Census time is running out
Jake Hackman concedes he’s a little worried, and why shouldn’t he be?
After all, millions of dollars in federal funding are at stake when it comes to the U.S. Census, and an important deadline is fast approaching for the decennial event that is much more than just a count of the number of people in a given city, county or state.
“I don’t think people realize quite how important this is for us,” said Hackman, the chairman of the Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors. “This affects 10 years — think about that, 10 years — of funding. We need everyone to be counted.”
The U.S. Census deadline for self-reporting — i.e., residents mailing in their census forms or going online to report the size of their households — is Wednesday, Sept. 30, and although the percentage of residents who have self-reported has inched up, it hasn’t been by much.
According to the Census Bureau, 72.9 percent of Chickasaw County households have self-reported, up from a little less than 70 percent three weeks ago. Iowa’s percentage as a state is 70.7 percent, with Bremer County having the highest rate at 77.9 percent. The lowest is Dickinson County in northwest Iowa at 47.7 percent.
- For more on this story, see the Sept. 22 Tribune or the Sept. 24 Reporter