Changes in Fulton's population reported in the 2010 Census soon will be reflected in a corresponding shift in the city's ward boundaries.
During Tuesday night's regular meeting, the city council was presented with a proposed plan to tweak the ward lines so that the wards are better-balanced and fall within federal guidelines.
"Every 10 years when the census comes out, federal case law requires us to make sure the wards remain proportional," said Matt Harline, assistant director of administration. "As long as no ward is 10 percent more or less (than the remaining wards) it's considered legal."
"We need to get everybody pretty well even," Mayor LeRoy Benton agreed. "Most of the changes were in the downtown area. When you look at this year versus last year, there really isn't a big change."