2010 Census Count Important to Government Entities

$10,000 in federal funding lost for every person not counted

As the 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour - a cross-country interactive experience designed to draw awareness to the once-a-decade population count - makes its way through the United States, officials in Texas are preparing to make sure every resident is accounted for.

"We want everybody counted," Polk County Judge John Thompson (pictured right) said, noting accurate census counts are particularly important to local governments. After nearly two decades in county government, Thompson knows the importance of an accurate census count.

The Census Bureau has estimated approximately $10,000 is lost in federal funding for every resident not counted.

"It's a direct correlation," Thompson said. "Nearly every funding source, state or federal, considers population as one of the primary criteria for distribution allowance." Those figures determine how much a city gets in community development block grant dollars and other funds.

During the next four months as the Census Portrait of America Road Tour winds its way through the country - comprising the largest civic outreach campaign in United States history - the interactive crusade will be documented on social networking Internet sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and YouTube. The effort will allow residents to share photos and stories explaining why the census count will make a difference in their communities. The tour will exhibit at more than 800 events nationwide, including the Super Bowl.

Texas, in general, faces census-count challenges specific to the lower Southwest region, including reluctance to participate by some Hispanics and undocumented workers. By law, however, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' answers with other federal agencies or law enforcement entities.

"The problems come when the funding formulas don't work in your favor because you didn't get a good count," Thompson said. "If we're going to have folks here who expect services, then we need for them to be counted...to meet their expectations."

For that reason, Polk County has instituted a number of committees that will tally figures for each city and the county's Indian reservation as well as keep track of "escapees" - RV owners who have sold their homes and who are situated for the time being in Polk County. Thompson said escapees are especially difficult to track. In 2000, more than 300 were counted while more than 9,000 RV dwellers in the county registered to vote.

Across Texas, census workers have rallied churches, schools, Lions and Kiwanis Clubs, among other organizations, to spread awareness of the census, and the North East Texas Council of Governments (NETCOG) has held forums to foster outreach efforts.

As Polk County judge for nearly 20 years and former president of the National Association of Regional Councils, Thompson said with a laugh that he has become "painfully aware" of how an accurate census count matters.

Census workers begin the count on April 1 and wrap up in July.

Population count has far-reaching effects, Thompson said, determining in some instances how much a county or city receives for school districts, roads and airport improvements - which is why census workers are determined to raise awareness of the importance an accurate count bears.

From Texas Government Insider, a publication of Strategic Partnerships Inc. Judge Thompson is a Past President of TARC