Westchester Continues Census Push Despite Coronavirus
Residents may be preoccupied with the horrors unfolding because of the coronavirus and holding onto their job or business, but everyone in Westchester is asked to participate in one critically important task.
County officials are urging all residents to take 10 minutes to complete their household’s 2020 Census questionnaire. It’s not just to get an accurate count of the nation’s population but also determines how much federal funding a state receives and how congressional representation is apportioned.
Blanca Lopez, an adviser to County Executive George Latimer on strategic initiatives for the 2020 Census, said Wednesday the public has just one chance every 10 years to help their communities get the information right. The U.S. Constitution mandates that a count of everyone in the country is to be taken every year that ends in zero.
“Every person who responds to the Census is contributing to the community,” Lopez said. “Money that comes from the federal government is going towards our county, our communities, our school districts, our state, our first responders, our infrastructure. So we want to make sure people understand how they are contributing and making our communities better.”
For each person that isn’t counted, it is estimated that their home communities lose out on $2,500 to $2,700 a year, she said. Multiply that by 10 years – the next Census will be taken in 2030 – and failure to participate is costly.
Lopez said nearly all households should have received an original letter containing a 12-character Census identification by the week of Mar. 16. For those with access to a computer who haven’t completed their form, log onto www.my2020census.gov and click on “Start Questionnaire.” You’ll be asked for your household’s identification number. If you have lost that original mailer and don’t have the Census identification, there is a link to click on for those without an I.D. immediately after looking to start the questionnaire.
It will take no more than 10 minutes for households that have one or two members and slightly longer for larger households, since information has to be inputted for everyone living at the address, Lopez said.
She said a commonly held belief for why some people don’t respond is that it is erroneously perceived that personal information is divulged to other sources, including non-citizens.
“We want to make sure people understand to participate in the Census,” Lopez said. “It’s confidential and your privacy is protected.”
For those without home computers or who prefer to complete the Census the old-fashioned way, the Census Bureau will be sending out paper questionnaires around Apr. 8. If there are homes who have still failed to respond by computer or mail, representatives called Census enumerators will be sent out.
The enumerators were originally scheduled to start making rounds by the end of April, Lopez said. However, that has now been postponed until sometime in May, she said. Furthermore, the deadline to complete questionnaires has been pushed back from July 31 to Aug. 14.
“So we have approximately three or four months to get this right, to get everybody counted, so we can have some funding coming into us by next year,” Lopez said.
Through Mar. 31, Westchester’s participation rate has slightly lagged the rest of the United States but is slightly better than the rest of the state. Westchester’s response rate was 33.8 percent, compared to the national rate of 36.2 percent and New York State’s 31.1 percent.
The two communities with the highest response rates were Croton-on-Hudson at 48.2 percent and Briarcliff Manor at 47.1 percent. On the opposite end were Mount Vernon (23 percent) and Port Chester (26.4 percent).
County Executive George Latimer said the Census Bureau is still hiring part-time workers to complete the Census and pays $23 an hour. For more information about job opportunities, visit www.2020census.gov.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/