{"id":2442763,"date":"2019-04-09T22:00:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T04:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/everyone-counts-in-next-years-census\/"},"modified":"2019-04-09T22:00:01","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T04:00:01","slug":"everyone-counts-in-next-years-census","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/everyone-counts-in-next-years-census\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Everyone counts\u2019 in next year\u2019s census"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The only way to ensure an accurate count for next year\u2019s U.S. census is to take control on a local level and employ a unified approach with area community groups and governments, Aspen City Council members agreed Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Council members were updated during a work session on the city and Pitkin County\u2019s efforts by Phillip Supino, the city\u2019s principal long-range planner who serves on the state\u2019s Colorado Complete Count Campaign committee, and Kara Silbernagel, assistant to the county manager.<\/p>\n

Having an accurate number of residents in Pitkin County is important for a multitude of reasons, particularly because federal and state dollars allocated to local communities is based on population, Supino said.<\/p>\n

He told council that city officials estimate between 1 and 3 percent of Pitkin County was undercounted in the 2010 census, leading to an estimated $400,000 annually that was not distributed back to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a substantial undercount \u2026 with a population of 17,000,\u201d Supino said, adding that without local efforts, the undercount could be much higher in 2020.<\/p>\n

The state estimates that each person counted represents $2,300 annually in federal, state and local dollars. In Pitkin County, that is approximately $41 million annually.<\/p>\n

The money supports everything from funding for roads to health and human services to other government offerings that total 2,500 federal programs, according to Supino.<\/p>\n

He also noted that congressional redistricting is based on population, so having adequate representation is based on accurate census data.<\/p>\n

But because next year\u2019s effort is underfunded on a federal level, state and local governments are taking it upon themselves to lead the effort through \u201clocal complete count campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local efforts the rest of the year include developing outreach and education campaigns, collaborating with valley partners, building a Roaring Fork Valley Complete Count Committee, assessing and strategizing to overcome obstacles to achieve a complete count and finding resources for staffing to carry out those goals.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Census occurs every 10 years and is constitutionally mandated. It\u2019s about counting households; people living in residential structures.<\/p>\n

So in an effort to count every resident, the city, Pitkin County and Snowmass Village are collaborating on a yearlong census support campaign in coordination with the state of Colorado and the U.S. Census.<\/p>\n

While there was adequate funding for the 2010 census, money for outreach and workers has been severely reduced, making it even more critical to get a full count, according to Supino.<\/p>\n

The city already has put in $15,000, which went to research and planning.<\/p>\n

Pitkin County allocated $15,000 in its 2019 budget to develop an outreach strategy and encourage participation.<\/p>\n

Supino said the city, county and Snowmass plan to work with downvalley communities and non-governmental groups to spread the census tentacles as far as possible to find hard-to-reach residents.<\/p>\n

Working with other communities ensures \u201cwe are directing resources and our efforts in as efficient a way as possible,\u201d Supino told council.<\/p>\n

This census also marks the first time it will be conducted online, which could pose challenges for those who don\u2019t have access to the internet.<\/p>\n

Although Census Day is April 1, 2020, individuals will be able to complete the census beginning March 19, 2020.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the census will occur in the middle of the presidential primaries, so a local campaign to get the message out is crucial given the changes and competing interests happening, Supino pointed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to reduce the undercount,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Council members said they were supportive of the city\u2019s partnership with the county and Snowmass and the overall effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an important thing to do,\u201d Councilman Adam Frisch said.<\/p>\n

csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The only way to ensure an accurate count for next year\u2019s U.S. census is to take control on a local level and employ a unified approach with area community groups and governments, Aspen City Council members agreed Tuesday. Council members were updated during a work session on the city and Pitkin County\u2019s efforts by Phillip […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2442763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 12:47:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2442763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2442763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2442763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2442763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}