2010 Census Reporting
AUSTIN---The leaders of a southern Minnesota county are getting ready for next year's census count.
After a visit from a U.S. Census Bureau representative, Mower county leaders learned just how crucial accurate numbers could be to their success over the next decade.
Beginning next March, everyone will find something extra in their mailbox. Community leaders want to make sure it doesn't get treated like junk mail. The short, ten question survey, is the 2010 census.
County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said, “The lady from the census bureau today, estimated for every Minnesota that does not get counted, it could be as much as a thousand dollars per year to the services that you get reimbursed in your community.”
Oscarson said you can't think of it as an extra thousand dollars to spend. “I think you look at it as money you're not going to lose. Because what can happen is, if other states do a better job of reporting, and Minnesota does not do a very good job, then it shifts that money to other states.”
In the 2000 Census, Minnesota ranked second nationwide in completed surveys. The only state with the better return rate was Iowa. Oscarson said it's important his home state does well again.
“Say the city's applying for a grant for flood relief, and it's a competitive grant: a lot of times the feds look at that based on your population.”
An accurate population report will give the county a better opportunity to get Federal money. But, there's more than just dollars at stake.
Right now Minnesota has eight congressional districts, meaning there's eight individuals in the U.S. Congress, voicing the concerns of Minnesotans. But a representative for the U.S. Census Bureau reports Minnesota's in jeopardy of losing one of those seats, if the numbers aren't correctly reported. It'd be the first time in a hundred years that Minnesotans would only have seven people in the U.S. House.
“So we want to be accurate because the more representatives you have at the Federal level, so to speak, is then Minnesotans have a better voice when it comes to shaping policies and things like that,” Oscarson said.
The Bureau’s representative said even undocumented workers need to respond to the questionnaire. By law, the Bureau cannot share a person's responses with anyone, including agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
