ATHENS — It was recently brought to my attention that a story by Randolph T. Holhut ['We're bigger, but not by that much,' The Commons, Feb. 16] stated, “Athens grew by 30 percent, going from 340 to 442 residents.” This is an erroneous statement.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau website's FactFinder section (factfinder.census.gov), Athens' population is 326. I have checked this website several times since last fall to see whether any changes occurred. I feel that I would be aware if our population had increased by some 102 people due to my 15+ years as a lister in town.
We don't have a large rental section to account for that type of increase and, in fact, we have several properties at this time that are on the market. Our filed homesteads have remained the same or close for the past several years, and our total taxable base also has not changed.
I don't know where Mr. Holhut got his figures, but I feel all of them should be checked again.