Local census volunteers encourage participation in 2020 count

Luverne’s Complete Count Committee members have been meeting monthly to support local efforts toward a complete count in the 2020 census.
The city of Luverne established a Complete Count Committee (CCC) earlier this year to make sure all of the city’s residents are counted.
Mayor Pat Baustian serves on the committee, which includes a cross section of local community leaders.
“We are extremely close to achieving a population count of over 5,000,” Baustian has been telling committee members.
“Should we reach that magical number, the city would benefit greatly from the new money we would receive to pay for our aging roads, among many other [priorities that rely on] federal and state funding.”
One way to boost local counts is to educate the public about the importance of participating in the U.S. Census.
In general, census data helps plan roads, schools, hospitals, senior centers and emergency services to best accommodate changing populations.
The data collected by the census also determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Minnesota is currently at risk of losing a seat in Congress, based on population.
Census data also helps businesses determine where they’ll locate based on market research.
But a big reason census data matters is that numbers add up to dollars.
“It comes down to money,” Mead said.
There are 16 major federal assistance programs that distribute funds to states and communities based on census data.
These include highway planning and construction, medical assistance programs, housing grants, Title 1 grants to schools, low-income home energy assistance, national school lunch funds and more.
For funding purposes, even one missed person could mean a forfeited $15,000 in funding for Minnesota over 10 years.
If communities are undercounted, their federal assistance will include fewer dollars than the number of residents and households who need the funds.
Luverne’s Complete Count Committee has sent social media messages about participation, and the city’s website, cityofluverne.org, has clear and simple messages for residents.
Members of the Complete Count Committee are Luverne Community Education secretary Cindy Arends, city councilwoman and Luverne High School teacher Caroline Thorson, Luverne Mayor Pat Baustian, deputy city clerk Mandy Van Grootheest, Land Management Office technician Arlyn Gehrke and Rock County Star Herald editor Lori Sorenson.
All were invited to be part of the volunteer community based on their connections to the community and their particular areas of expertise related to census counts.