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Resolution #20-17 Establishing the Valdez 2020 Census Partnership and Complete Count Committee
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SUBMITTED BY: Kate Huber, Planning Director
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: N/A
Unencumbered Balance: N/A
Funding Source: N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
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Approve resolution #20-17 establishing the City of Valdez 2020 census partnership and Complete Count Committee.
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SUMMARY STATEMENT:
The 2020 United States Census is officially underway and the counting for Valdez opened on March 12, 2020. Valdez will primarily be counted via mailed surveys that can be responded to via mail, phone or online. Participation in the census is required by law.
Census data is used as the basis for distributing more than $800 billion in federal funds annually to states, boroughs, and communities. State legislative districts and local political boundaries are redrawn using census data, and this data also informs business decisions, policy, community initiatives, and consumer advocacy.
As the country's largest and least densely populated state, Alaska has one of the hardest populations to count. But an accurate count is vital; an undercount of Alaskans means our state fails to receive its fair share of federal resources.
When Alaskans go uncounted, we all lose out. The census determines the resources that go to Alaska to help build roads, and infrastructure and deliver public services to children, veterans, seniors, and families.
During this once-in-a-decade effort to count the U.S. population, the United States Census Bureau calculates a participation rate for each area, or the percentage of questionnaires mailed back by households that received them. In 2010, Alaska had the lowest participation rate in the nation at 64 percent.
A similar undercount of our state in 2020 means Alaska will not receive its full share of federal funding for the following 10 years. In the face of increasing state and local budget constraints, we cannot afford an undercount in 2...
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