MANSFIELD — How important is the U.S. Census? It’s worth $675 billion annually in federal funding, of which Ohio received about $33 billion last year.
That kind of money will unite people in a hurry, including all three Richland County commissioners and mayors from around the county. They all gathered on Monday afternoon to launch #RichlandCounts — one year before the population counting actually begins.
“We want to make this personal to Richland County, as well,” Commissioner Marilyn John said. “We want the residents of the county to really understand the importance of why the census takes place and how it impacts us here locally.”
John is the chair of the local Complete Count committee, which has been meeting for several months already to plan local participation.
The nation’s founding fathers believed the census is important enough it was included in the new country’s Constitution. It’s in Article I, Section 2 for those who want to look it up.
The first count was done in 1790 and has been done every 10 years since. Some have said the genius of the nation’s founders was taking a tool of government and making it a tool of political empowerment for the governed over their government.
The U.S. Census Bureau will ask 11 questions in its 2020 basic questionnaire, aimed at counting every man, woman and child living in the country and recording information such as age, sex and race.
The count will help allocate federal dollars across a wide spectrum of programs such as education, healthcare, law enforcement, highways and more, according to Rose Simmons, U.S. Census Bureau partnership specialist based in Columbus.
That fact helps convince people to participate, even those who may be reluctant.
“So many things in our daily lives are dependent upon federal funding that I don’t think people realize that a lot of times,” said Simmons, who attended the event Monday at the Richland County Administration Building. “When we inform people, we can sway them to participate.”
Simmons said by mid-March 2020, Richland County residents will have received an invitation to go online to complete the census, a process that should take 10 minutes or less. They can also choose to complete a paper census form or use the telephone to provide their information.
“We want them to do what’s best for them,” Simmons said. “It’s vitally important everyone in Richland County be counted.”
Simmons said studies showed it costs Ohio $1,814 annually for every individual that is not counted in the census.
“There are no do-overs,” she said. “We live with these numbers for 10 years.”
Also in attendance Monday were Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker, Ontario Mayor Randy Hutchinson, Shelby Mayor Steve Schag, Lexington Mayor Eugene Parkison and Bellville Mayor Teri Brenkus.
John said the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library will help begin putting out census importance information this fall, including a message board and information sheet.
