Catoosa County census count rate surpasses state, nation
William Lee “Will” Clifford, age 11 went to be with the Lord on June 23, 2020. Will was the shining star to his family. He was a good and honest young man who always stuck up for his brother. He loved his pet birds and enjoyed listening to music and doing computer coding. He was deeply loved by his family and will be missed by all who knew him. He leaves behind his parents, Tony and Liz Clifford; siblings, Tony Clifford, Katie Clifford and Raven Monschein; grandparents, Millie Dennis, Jackie (Ken) Klocek, Doug Combs, Gordon Taylor, Ray and Marianne Clifford. A private funeral mass will be held at the Catholic Church of the Nativity, Father Jerry 6WUDQJH RI¿FLDWLQJ %XULDO DW Spring Hill Memorial Park. Memorial contributions may be made to the Will Clifford Memorial Fund in care of SPRING HILL MEMORIAL PARK AND FUNERAL HOME 931-486-0059 www. springhill-memorial.com
According to a June 24 tally by the U.S. Census Bureau, Catoosa County’s self-response rate surpasses both the state and national rates, while Walker County’s rate lags behind both.
Catoosa County’s self-response rate for the questionnaire is 65.4%. At 56.1%, Walker County’s self-reporting rate falls behind Georgia’s 57.6% rate and the U.S. rate of 61.6%.
The rates in Chattooga and Dade counties are 49.1% and 49.8% respectively.
The data from this count, conducted once each decade, determines the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives and is used to draw congressional and state legislative districts.
Census data also determines how federal funding will be disbursed for schools, healthcare, hunger, infrastructure and emergency services over the next decade.
The constitutionally-mandated head count of every person living in the United States has been conducted since 1790.
During the last census in 2010, 76% of Walker County and 79% of Catoosa residents participated in the self-reporting phase. Local officials said the low participation rate potentially led to an undercount, costing the county millions of dollars in funds, which are distributed locally through more than 300 federal programs.
Every person counted in Walker County represents about $2,300 in federal funds for things like school breakfast and lunch programs, student loans, housing and energy assistance, Medicaid, highway planning and construction, transit grants and supplemental nutrition programs like WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), officials said.
The impact of an undercount can last a decade because population estimates and projections are based on census counts.
The head of each household should fill out the census for every person in the home at the time of the count, including any relatives or friends who are temporarily residing in the home. In shared custody situations, children should be counted where they slept on April 1.
All census responses are kept confidential for 72 years.
After 72 years, the records are released to the public by the National Archives and Records Administration for genealogy research.
The local Complete Count Committee urges Georgians to protect themselves and in-person response teams by filling out their census online at 2020census.gov, calling the U.S. Census Bureau at 1-844-3302020 or mailing in their forms. The process is simple and takes less than 10 minutes.
Catherine Edgemon is assistant editor for the Walker County Messenger in Lafayette, Ga., and the Catoosa County News in Ringgold, Ga.