County Planning Commissioner Urges Response to 2020 Census

Westchester County Commissioner of Planning Norma Drummond has been making the rounds lately highlighting the need for residents and communities to respond to the upcoming 2020 census.

Her appearances, including an Oct. 28 presentation before the Pleasantville Village Board and last Wednesday evening at the North Castle Town Board meeting, was part of the county’s ongoing educational outreach highlighting changes in the census and the importance of getting an accurate count.

“The final census numbers will determine how $880 billion gets spent,” Drummond said. “That amount gets divvied up based on the population and will fund many programs. This time, the government will have greater access to other government records such as social security records, HUD records and post office records.”

Census Bureau employees are required to take an oath of confidentiality stipulating they won’t share information with any other federal department, Drummond said. The issue made news when the Trump administration insisted that the citizenship question appear on census forms, fueling fears that it would depress responses among noncitizens and certain ethnic groups.

The U.S. Supreme Court narrowly decided against the citizenship question in June. When Drummond displayed an image of the Census 2020 form, the citizenship question was clearly crossed out. She said the purpose of the census, taken every 10 years since 1790 in years ending in zero, is to get an accurate count of the population.

“That question will not be allowed to be asked,” she stated.

For the first time, 95 percent of Americans will not receive a form in the mail, but rather a letter inviting them to respond to the census online. The letter will have a code for responders to use when answering questions online. Letters will be mailed on Mar. 16, Apr. 8 and Apr. 20. Individuals can also respond by mail or by phone.

“If you have not responded by the middle of April you are likely to be visited by a census taker,” Drummond said.

She explained that if there is no response to the census invitations, census takers will talk to building managers, neighbors and ask questions such as how many people live in a housing unit. Citizens will have until July to be counted.

There are numerous advantages to online responses for the county, Drummond said, including quicker response time.

A concern was whether the online census filing might encourage criminal hacking.

Drummond explained that the U.S. Census Bureau has been reserving all of the URL websites that are similar to the Census 2020 website and has put several other significant security measures in place, she said.

Part of the educational outreach is establishing public areas, or “hubs,” where people can respond online without using their personal computers. That would also help some older citizens who might be uncomfortable with the transition to responding online or who may not have a computer.

“We’d like to establish hubs like libraries where, for example, young people might volunteer to help senior citizens respond to the census,” Drummond said.

The Westchester County Planning Department reviewed 370,000 housing units in the county and found 24,000 more housing units than the official count, Drummond said. She said her department reviewed how municipalities reported building permits and found seven municipalities had not reported those permits correctly. While she didn’t identify those municipalities, she said they included two large cities, a smaller city, one town and three villages.

The Census 2020 educational staff is now working with school districts to establish Census Week in March during which discussions with school boards are being encouraged, she said. The most under-counted group is children under five years old because they are not in school yet, Drummond said.

A review has been completed using birth certificates, which are used by school districts, to project new enrollment.

“Many people think because children are not in school yet they don’t have to be listed on the census,” she said.

Drummond explained that once the public understands what’s at stake with the census, they will understand the importance of responding.

“If people knew that responding to the census meant more funding for their fire department or how the census impacts funding for hospitals, health care, ambulances, then they would respond,” she said.

More information is available at www.planning.westchestergov.com/census-statistics.