Sullivan Says City May Lose $500,000 in Federal Funding

The City of Cambridge may lose $500,000 in federal revenue sharing funds for the 12 months beginning July 1, Cambridge City Manager James L. Sullivan said yesterday.

The federal government allocates aid to the city in inverse proportion to Census Bureau per capita income estimates for Cambridge, which Sullivan said are too high.

Sullivan said that the city's own per capita income figures are more accurate than the census figures.

Sullivan went to Washington this week to register a formal protest with the Office of Revenue Sharing of the Treasury Department. He said the census bureau overestimated per capita income by almost $300.

Sullivan said he also protested the census population estimate of 96,000, citing his figure of $110,000 as more accurate.

The Department of Labor notified the City of Cambridge earlier this year that the position of Cambridge as a prime sponsor in the federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Program is in jeopardy because the Cambridge population does not meet the $100,000 minimum required for sponsorship. As a prime sponsor. Cambridge now manages a $7 million suburban division of the program.

John Parker, deputy director of the Office of Revenue Sharing, said yesterday that the Census Bureau will review Cambridge population and income statistics within the next two or three weeks and decide whether to revise them.

Last year's revenue sharing allowance to Cambridge was $2.9 million. Sullivan said although he cannot predict the outcome of his protest in Washington.

He said that student and "native" populations have been stable since 1970, when the census showed a Cambridge population of 100,361. Sullivan said that the net increase in housing units of 3,000 since 1970 coupled with a "negligible" vacancy rate in Cambridge indicate that city population has increased by 10,000 in the interim.