Complete count committee will help gather information for the U.S. Census
REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Cities all across the nation are gearing up to get the correct count of household members for the U.S. Census. Our constitution mandates the government to collect data about every resident in the United States every 10 years.
"There are billions of dollars federally that are based on the census," said Rexburg's director of economic development and community relations, Scott Johnson.
The data collected helps distribute federal funding, grants, ensures fair representation in the house of representatives, and it is used in local governments and businesses for planning.
"Everything from healthcare to infrastructure to schools, you name it," Johnson said.
Madison County is gathering up a 'complete count' committee. They will help in getting an accurate count and address any misconceptions or concerns about the census.
"We have some people that think well I'm gonna lose residency in my state where I'm going, this is going to happen, that might happen. None of that's true the census really is just counting who is where on that particular date," Johnson said.
The effort comes after the county has felt severely undercounted in the past. This year, to help with the count of single students, the federal government has allowed madison county for the first time ever, to count them as one block.
"So instead of each apartment having to fill out information for their apartment, all single students will be filled out by the university," Johnson said.
Questions that are asked during the census are used to provide a snapshot of the nation. The Census Bureau is required by law to keep responses that could identify us or our households private. The information can only be used to produce statistics.
The census will report where someone is living on April 1, but we can send in the information as soon as we get the request.
"They'll receive a card in the mail, and that will have a unique identifier for them that they can actually get on and then fill out the census online," Johnson said.
For more information on Madison County's complete count committee click here.
For more information on the 2020 Census click here.
