Signal Mountain now has a considerably higher population than it did three months ago, as a result of the recent annexation of Wind Tree and Fox Run subdivisions. Town officials are now in the process of counting residents within the 250-plus newly annexed homes to come up with the town's current total population to ensure the town gets tax revenue proportionate to the added homes.
"The town gets state shared revenue, and the state redistributes that to municipalities based on population," explained Town Manager Honna Rogers. "Basically, you get several hundred dollars for each person [in the town]."
Rogers sent out letters to all residents in the town asking them to respond with the number of people living in their home, and in the next few weeks Town Hall staff will be calling those who do not return their count to the town. The town must send the new count in to the Southeast Tennessee Development District, which will test the data by checking 10 percent of the town's homes, and then send the information on to the state, Rogers said.
"We are only counting the annexed area," she noted. "Fox Run has had quite some growth and we didn't want to lose out on that money."
According to the last census in 2010, Signal Mountain's population is approximately 7,554, and that number has grown since the count of 7,429 in 2000.
The Signal Mountain Land Use Plan from 2008 states that the town's population has been growing, but at steadily decreasing rates. For example, between 1980 and 1990, Signal Mountain grew by 1,216 people, or 20.9 percent. Between 1990 and 2000, the population grew by 395 people, or 5.6 percent. Between 2000 and 2010, the population grew by 125 people, or 1.7 percent.