Low-income students bring city big bucks

IU senior Diana Dickerson, 21, lives near downtown Bloomington in a four-bedroom house. She has a fairly new car, a laptop computer, a diverse wardrobe and an extensive DVD collection. Yet according to the American Community Service census, she lives in poverty.\nIn fact, Dickerson and thousands of other students, who are counted as unemployed by the census, have made Bloomington the most impoverished small city in the Midwest.\nBloomington received this title largely because a wealth of students look like an unwealthy demographic on paper. The census is set up to allow students supported by their parents, in whole or in part, to show up in financial data as having no income. \nBecause of its "impoverished" status, Bloomington receives hundreds of thousands of dollars every year in federal funding.\nFrom January to December 2005, such data was collected across the country, detailing income levels of various communities. \nDoris Sims, assistant director of Housing and Neighborhood Development of Bloomington, was surprised when Bloomington was given the rank of second most impoverished city in the country -- first in the Midwest -- for cities with populations between 65,000 and 249,000. \n"As long as I've lived here, I haven't thought of Bloomington as impoverished," said Sims, a Bloomington resident for more than 30 years.\nThe findings of a census, in relation to poverty, directly relate to federal funding received by cities, particularly the Department of Housing and Urban Development.\nBloomington is one of 13 cities within Indiana that are considered entitlement cities, meaning the government has deemed them worthy of receiving federal funding in the form of block grants, Sims said. Each year, a certain amount is divided between these cities.\nThis amount is determined by the size and age of houses and buildings, as well as incomes of residents, Sims said.\n"As of now, 51 percent of residents (of Bloomington) have low to moderate incomes," Sims said.\nThat led to an allocation of more than $800,000 in 2005. The U.S. Census Bureau uses a set of income thresholds, related to family size, to determine poverty levels. \n"If a family's total income is less than that family's threshold, then that family and every individual in it are considered to be in poverty," the Census report summary stated.\nIt is up to the local HUD officials to decide how that money is spent. The main outlet in Bloomington is social services, accounting for 15 percent of total funds, Sims said. This includes programs like local food banks and emergency shelters. \nThe remainder is divided between housing, economic development and public facilities, including services such as city beautification and street repair.\nWhile both Bloomington students inflating the poverty rate and Bloomington residents legitimately enduring financial problems are benefiting from the funding, cities lacking large college campuses are not.\nThis has led to an outcry for reform nationwide.\nHUD officials told Cleveland newspaper The Plain Dealer that "officials have sought ways to better allocate their money," possibly excluding off-campus students. However, as HUD is under the direction of Congress, legislation would have to be created that would cut funding for some cities. For officials seeking election, proposed funding cuts are not likely to be a popular platform.\nIf reforms did take place, it would mean swift changes for places like Bloomington, according to an article on the subject published by Newshouse News Service this year. Half of the $800,000 allocated to Bloomington last year would disappear from the streets of Monroe County -- and likely reappear in other Indiana streets not traversed by college students.