San Luis redoubles efforts to count all residents in upcoming 2020 Census

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — San Luis City Hall doesn’t plan on giving anyone an excuse not to be counted in the 2020 Census.

With the city’s share of state and federal funding dependent on its population count, the city Planning and Zoning Department is planning a series of nine visits to neighborhoods around the city in March to help residents complete the Census questionnaire online.

“The idea is to facilitate access to the Census by residents in their neighborhoods,” said Jose Guzman, director of the department. “There will be many of them who don’t have internet to access the questionnaire, or it is difficult for them to go to the public library or other places where there is access to the questionnaires.”

Census workers will bring with them 10 laptop computers and help residents complete the questionnaire during the visits scheduled between March 12 to 26. Live music entertainment and children’s activities will take place in each of the neighborhoods as part of the visits.

Apart from the visits, Guzman said, the city is working with agricultural companies to make sure employees who are San Luis residents are counted before leaving for the summer to work in the fields in California.

And in the utility bills it sends to customers, the city is including reminders of the neighborhood visits.

Then in a followup phase from May to July, Guzman said, Census workers will return to any remaining households that have not been counted.

If San Luis officials are making a concerted effort to ensure every household fills out the questionnaire, it’s because they believe the city’s population is consistently undercounted, Guzman said.

The 2019 Census count for San Luis is 33,490 residents, while city officials say it is 37,000 or more.