By The City of Greeley
The census is an official count of the U.S. population that takes place every 10 years. Constitutionally mandated since 1790, the census is intended to ensure each state is given a proportional voice in federal government and receives federal dollars to support housing, healthcare, education, transportation and other federally funded services.
Data from the 2020 will determine the number of seats Colorado has in the House of Representatives, how federal and state legislative districts are redrawn, and federal funding of programs to Colorado’s residents. If Colorado achieves a complete count in the 2020 Census, it could account for an eighth congressional district in the federal House of Representatives giving the people of Colorado an additional voice setting federal laws.
The City of Greeley is working with volunteers from local businesses and nonprofits, and fellow municipalities to build a homegrown 2020 Census effort. The goal of this community-led campaign is to inform our residents about the importance of the census in local affairs, while working to achieve a complete and accurate count of all persons in our community in April of 2020.
Data derived from the 2010 Census shows distribution of federal funds across 55 federal spending programs at $13 billion annually for the state of Colorado. These numbers provide a per person funding amount of $2,300 annually; meaning if 100 individuals were not counted in our community we could potentially miss $230,000 annually, and $2.3 million in funding over the next decade.
Staff at the City of Greeley have created a local branding toolkit for local municipalities, businesses, and organizations to utilize as they work to support a complete and accurate count across Weld County. City of Greeley staff also serve on Colorado’s statewide Complete Count Campaign in order to ensure balanced information flow between local and statewide efforts.
For more information on local census efforts, email [email protected]. For more information on statewide and federal efforts around the census, call the Regional Census Center at 1-800-852-6159 (toll-free) or visit https://www.census.gov/about/regions/denver.html.