Accurate census count targeted

Three options available to respond to questionnaire

Every 10 years the federal government tries to count the population.

And every 10 years it undercounts a certain percentage of people.

The government uses census data to determine how more than $675 billion in federal funding is distributed.

An undercount means communities will not get as much money as they are entitled to receive. Berks County had several areas that went undercounted in 2010.

In much of Reading, along with some other communities around the county, census officials determined the number of people who responded was less than the actual population.

County commissioners said at their weekly meeting Thursday that they want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt, who is leading the Berks Census 2020 Complete Count Committee, said an undercount of just 4% would result in a loss of more than $350 million in funding for the county and its residents over the next decade.

“For all the federal taxes people around here pay, it’s only right that the right amount comes back to support our area,” he said.

And part of getting an accurate count, he said, means getting the right information to people.

Michael Golembiewski, a member of the count committee and a county transportation planner, unveiled Thursday how the federal government intends to do that by showing how the county will be asked to respond to the 2020 census.

He said every household will be invited to respond online, by phone or by mail to the census starting one week before April 1 — the official Census Day.

Most households in the county will receive an invitation to respond online or by phone, while other households in communities where internet access may be an issue will receive a paper questionnaire along with an invitation to respond online. And some households in communities where language may be a barrier will receive bilingual invitations and questionnaires.

Regardless of which invitation they receive, all households that have not responded will receive a paper questionnaire by midApril.

Golembiewski shared with commissioners several maps illustrating the contact strategy to inform the public and partners of the 2020 census. A decade of research and testing has determined the best way to invite everyone to respond.

The board decided it will post those maps on its website to help spread the word.