The Independent View: Officials Scramble to Ensure New Yorkers Get Counted in Next Census

For villages, Towns and counties across New York, much is riding on the next Federal Census. In preparing for the next Count in 2020, State and Local Officials say they are already working in concert to minimize the chance that People will be passed by when the Population is enumerated. "It's very important to make the case that getting a good, accurate, complete count is everybody's business, not just the federal government's," said Warren Brown, the Research Director at the New York Census Research Data Center, based at Cornell University.

The First Phase of the next Census has already begun. Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau invited some 39,000 State, Local and Tribal Governments to participate in Developing a Complete and Accurate Data Base of Home Addresses. The Bureaucrats have dubbed that project "LUCA", Local Update of Census Addresses.

It is expected to play a vital role in the Goal of trying to Count every Head, as the Federal Government is expected to Hire fewer People to go Door-to-Door for the 2020 Census. An Undercount would hurt the State in the Pocketbook, said Richard Tobe, the Cuomo Administration's Deputy Director of State Operations for Special Projects.

He noted that Census Information helps determine how much Money the Federal Government shares with Individual States. Out of a $589 Billion Annual allocation to the States, New York reaps about $53 Billion, or 9% of the total, said Tobe, former Deputy Erie County Executive. "If we don't get good counts in these places that are traditionally hard to count, we could lose a great deal," Tobe said.

The Areas that pose the greatest challenges are Cities with significant numbers of New Immigrants, he noted.
There is also concern that Undocumented Immigrants, fearful they could be Deported, may seek to avoid being Counted, though they do Count as Residents under Census Guidelines, Tobe said.

He said State and Local Officials will be Spreading the Message that All Personal Information collected through the Census is Strictly Confidential, noting Census Data enjoys "some of the strongest privacy protections that exist anywhere in federal law." In addition to influencing Government Policy-Makers in their decisions for Investing in Infrastructure and Services, the Census also determines the Number of Congressional Representatives that each State has in Washington.

Because of its relatively Stagnant Population amid growth spurts experienced by some other States, New York dropped from 29 House of Representatives Seats to 27 following the 2010 Census. The Data can also shape how much Municipalities Collect in Shares of Sales Tax Revenue, a stream of Funding that can offset Pressure on Property Taxes.

Facing Budgetary Limitations, the Census Bureau has been Planning to rely more heavily in 2020 on Existing Government Records and using Mobile and Geospatial Technology to Locate Addresses. The Agency's plans also call for encouraging People to Complete Census Surveys Online. Said Brown: "They are not going to have a canvasser walk every block in the country. You're also not going to have this extensive follow-up we saw in past counts."

Getting the Count right could also hinge on how well Local Governments do in Updating Residential Addresses. Mark LaVigne, Spokesman for the New York State Association of Counties, said they are often in a better position to know whether a former warehouse has been converted to Condominiums or Apartments, and thus won't be Bypassed when it's time to Count Heads. The importance of getting an Accurate Census Count will be the Focus of a Sept. 13th Workshop at a NYSAC Conference in Syracuse.

The State Association of Towns and the Conference of Mayors, along with a host of State Agencies, are also participating in the effort to come up with a Comprehensive List of Residential Addresses in all New York communities, officials said.

Tobe said One Strategy in getting an Accurate Count is to gain an Understanding of how some People were Bypassed in previous enumerations. Experience has shown that Children younger than 5 have been Missed in "hard to count" Communities, he noted. "What we want to do," Tobe said, "is concentrate on a category of people who otherwise might be hard to find, whomever or wherever they may be."

Next February, the Census Bureau plans to send its Address List for each Jurisdiction to all Local Government Officials who agreed to help out in Updating the Information. The Local Officials will then have 120 days to send their Updates to the Federal Agency. "We're trying to get as many local government officials to be aware of the issue as they possibly can be," said LaVigne. "If we don't count everybody in New York, that hurts everybody."