2010 Census kickoff stresses importance of accurate count

Ten questions in 10 minutes.

That's the tag line for the upcoming once-every-10-years counting of U.S. residents administered by the federal Census Bureau and scheduled to begin next spring with the mailing of short questionnaires.

Though it sounds easy, the Utah portion of the national head count in 2000 fell an estimated 30,000 residents short and cost the state a fourth congressional seat and millions in federal funding.

On Thursday, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon joined civic leaders and a census official in announcing the 2010 Census kick-off, encouraging residents to participate and highlighting the benefits of an accurate count.

"Over $400 billion in federal funds are distributed each year based on population data," Corroon said. "Getting a complete count of people in Utah is very important — it's the way we will receive what we consider our fair share of funding."

A PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis of the fallout from the 2000 Census estimated Utah lost some $17 million in federal funding for programs such as Medicaid, foster care, substance-abuse treatment, adoption assistance and vocational-education grants. Jim Pugh of the Utah Food Bank said that money is especially critical right now, with the resources of outreach programs being tested by the current economic downturn.

"We're seeing over a 30 percent increase in the number of clients going to food pantries all over the state," he said. "Last year, close to 20 percent of the funding we received was from government contracts to help meet the needs of low-income Utahns."

Pugh said the food bank will host a census-assistance center next year to answer questions and help residents fill out the questionnaire.

Census Bureau partnership specialist Daniel Pacheco fielded some questions being raised at the federal level about the screening process of census field workers. He said all census employees, including part-timers, must clear a federal background search to qualify to work for the bureau. He said "thousands" will be working next April to ensure no one is left uncounted in Utah.

Pacheco also stressed that the information provided by residents in the census questionnaire is private and protected from release by federal law.

Further information on the census, including a sample questionnaire, can be found at 2010.census.gov. Salt Lake County is hosting its own census Web page at www.census2010.slco.org.

e-mail: araymond@desnews.com

How people are counted

March 2010 — More than 130 million census questionnaires are mailed out to U.S. households. Residents should complete and return the form upon receipt.

April 1, 2010 — Census Day. Responses are due and should include everyone living at the address the form was mailed to.

April-July 2010 — Census workers (who can be identified by a census badge) visit addresses that have not responded.

Dec. 31, 2010 — Results are released to the president, including reapportionment figures to determine congressional districts for each state.