SAUGUS – After a year of hard work Town Clerk Joanne Rappa wrapped up her census drive with a surprise – the numbers barely changed.It is a popular lament that while the books reflect the town’s census at 25,000, most people believed that the population hovered closer to 30,000.”I was one of them,” Rappa said. “I always believed the census was closer to 30,000.”After a year of painstaking work, however, Rappa said the census sits at approximately 25,500.”I honestly don’t believe we’ll get much more than that,” she said.In March of last year, the census was 25,964 – an increase of 2,300 over the previous year at the same time.Over the past year, Rappa and her staff have attempted to improve on those numbers. Untold hours were spent matching every single address in the Town Clerk’s system against every name and address in every other department in Town Hall.Marianne Moses, who works in the clerk’s office, said they poured over water meter readings, building permits and the assessor’s lists matching addresses and picking up new names. When new names were discovered, Rappa said she would send a census out and she received quite a few back. But for every new name she picked up, she said another one fell off the books. She said that was particularly true in regards to the the election.Rappa said she picked up dozens of new voters during November’s presidential election, but lost just as many. She said she thinks the numbers reflect an aging community. While the dwellings are still intact, she said she believes the children, by and large, have grown and moved out of the community, leaving only mom and dad on the census.Accurate census numbers mean more than simply knowing who lives in town. Much of state and federal funding, as well as grants, are based on census figures, which is why Rappa and other town officials have been intent on retaining more precise figures.Many who attributed a higher number to the census believed the hold outs were residents living in or keeping illegal apartments. Rappa said she doesn’t doubt that there are residents that despite her office’s best efforts have still slipped through census cracks, but she no longer thinks there are 4,000 or 5,000 unaccounted for residents out there – and she would know.”We spent months on this,” she said. “It wasn’t for lack of trying we didn’t leave any rocks unturned.”Rappa said the 2009 census will be sent out beginning Jan. 5 and this year she is including an application for dog licenses as well. She said she thought she might pick up a few more names by making it easier for residents who have a dog to license. This way, they can take care of the license by mail and include their census as well. She is also hoping for a quick return on the census so she can see exactly where the town stands, even if it is closer to 25,500.”I honestly did think we were closer to 30,000,” she said. “Maybe when the federal census comes out in 2010 it’ll tell a different story, but I don’t think so anymore.”