BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — This year, the Bakersfield homeless census, known as the point-in-time count, will have more volunteers than ever before, according to County officials.

The influx will foster more accurate results of the unsheltered homeless population, which may have been under-counted in previous years, according to City Manager Alan Tandy.

City spokesman Joe Conroy said Tandy was referencing a lack of volunteers in his statement.

On average, there are about 150 volunteers for these counts, according to Heather Kimmel, the assistant executive director of the Housing Authority of the County of Kern.

At a November 2019 board meeting, Kimmell said the number of volunteers participating in the 2019 point-in-time count doubled from the year prior.

On Wednesday, County spokeswoman Megan Person estimated about 600 volunteers to participate in the January 24 count, but said it was not an official number.

Registration to volunteer is now closed, according to Conroy.