• About
  • Contact

Virginia Municipal League

Local Governments Working Together Since 1905

  • CITIES
  • • TOWNS
  • • COUNTIES
  • Organization
    • About the League
      • Directions to the VML office
    • Get Involved
    • Strategic vision and goals
    • Executive Committee
      • Executive Meeting Packets
      • Serving on the Executive Committee
    • Local Government Members
    • League Staff
    • VML Insurance Programs
    • VML-VACo Finance
    • Affiliate Organizations
    • Go Green Virginia
  • Education
    • Leadership Academy
    • FOIA / COIA Training
    • Finance Forum
    • Stairway to Success
    • Innovation Awards
    • Holiday Tree Ornaments
    • Conferences
      • Newly Elected Officials Conference
      • 2018 Annual Conference – Hampton
      • Virginia Mayors Institute
      • Future Conference Dates
      • Past Annual Conference Programs
    • Wallerstein Scholarship
    • Essay Contest
    • HEAL Communities
  • Advocacy
    • Legislative Program
    • Local Federal Issues
    • Federal Advocacy
    • General Assembly
      • Policy Statements
    • Legislative Committee
    • Policy Committees
      • Community & Economic Development
      • Environmental Quality
      • Finance
      • General Laws
      • Human Development & Education
      • Transportation
    • VML Legislative Day
  • Publications
    • eNews
    • Town and City
    • Legal Resources
    • Local Officials’ Resources Series
    • Other publications
    • News Releases
  • Calendar
  • Classifieds
    • Create Jobs
  • Corporate Engagement
    • Municipal Business Associates
      • Municipal Business Associates Listings
    • Advertising with the League
    • Annual Conference Sponsorships & Exhibits
    • Partners
    • Terms & Conditions
Home / Publications / Town and City / Counting down to 2020
loading...

Counting down to 2020

U.S. Census Bureau needs your help

Kelley Hope, VML Communications Specialist

The decennial census is coming and April 1, 2020 is the big day. A true census count for your community has multiple benefits for local governments, such as the allocation of federal funding. In 2015, more than 130 programs used Census Bureau data to distribute $675 billion in funds. Census data also helps your community plan for future needs.

To prepare for the event, the United States Census Bureau is seeking your help.

Ensure the bureau has all addresses in your locality

Local governments can assist with the census preparation by reviewing addresses. Called the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Program, this effort ensures an accurate address list to reach every living quarter and associated population for inclusion in the census.

If your government lacks the resources to participate in LUCA, you can arrange for a higher level of government, such as county, or an organization, such as regional planning agency or council of governments, to conduct your review.

Dec. 15, 2017 is the deadline to register to participate in the LUCA Program. Training workshops on the process are underway now. The Census Bureau will mail materials to registered participants in Feb. 2018.

Encourage citizen participation

Another way to ensure an accurate tally of your citizens is by forming a complete count committee. This volunteer group plans and implements outreach efforts to publicize the importance of the 2020 Census and encourage citizens to participate. A locally-formed committee is ideal for coordinating activities that will uniquely address the special characteristics of your community.

The committees work best when they include representatives from government agencies, education, business, religious organizations, and the media.

Your locality may wish to create a committee to increase the response rate for residents and make sure your community’s data is accurate for the next ten years. The Census Bureau recommends complete count committees be formed by 2019. Find sample resolutions at vml.org/vtc-resources.

Census results affect a number of federally-funded programs, such as Title 1 grants to school districts; Head Start early childhood development programs; Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food grants; public transportation; road rehabilitation and construction; and emergency aid. Ensure your locality gets an opportunity for federal dollars with an accurate census count in 2020.

For questions about the 2020 census, contact Ronald Brown, partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau regional office that includes Virginia, at ronald.e.brown@census.gov or 215-704-4081. You also may visit www.census.gov/geo/partnerships/luca.html.

 

About the author: Kelley Hope is one of VML’s communications specialists and editor of Virginia Town & City.

  • eNews
  • Town and City
  • Legal Resources
  • Local Officials’ Resources Series
  • Other publications
  • News Releases
Virginia Municipal League
P.O. Box 12164, Richmond, VA 23241
13 E. Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23219
804-649-8471
Comments and questions about this website or the data provided may be addressed to Manuel Timbreza.
©2019 Virginia Municipal League.

Copyright © 2019 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in