The Census – Please be sure to respond!
The U.S. Census is an important tool for our community. As Mayor, I want every resident to be aware that the data from the Census is used to determine the amount of funding the City receives from the federal and state government under various programs.
Please respond by September 30th. As of Sept. 1, 86% of City residents have responded.
How to respond:
If you don’t have the questionnaire that came in the mail to you, you can still respond by phone or online.
Why your response is important:
Funding to the City and our region!
The results of the 2020 Census will inform decisions about allocating hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding to communities across the country—for Medicaid, Head Start, block grants for community mental health services, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.
Funding for hospitals, fire departments, school lunch programs, and other critical programs and services.
Local Business Decisions!
Any potential new business will use the data to prepare a business plan. The demographics are needed to determine the probable success of locating the business in our City, which in turn is used to solicit grant and loan funding for the project.
The Census provides population trends and growth projections, and can be used to determine where to locate stores, what types of businesses are needed in the area, and where to recruit employees.
State and Federal government representation!
The results of this once-a-decade count determine the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives. They are also used to draw congressional and state legislative districts.
When you respond to the census, your answers are kept anonymous.
They are used only to produce statistics.
The U.S. Census Bureau is bound by law to protect your answers and keep them strictly confidential. The law ensures that your private information is never published and that your answers cannot be used against you by any government agency or court.
Thank you for your participation and support,
Sue Leeming, Mayor
City of DeWitt