ITEM TITLE:
Resolution #20-17 Establishing the Valdez 2020 Census Partnership and Complete Count Committee
SUBMITTED BY: Kate Huber, Planning Director
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: N/A
Unencumbered Balance: N/A
Funding Source: N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve resolution #20-17 establishing the City of Valdez 2020 census partnership and Complete Count Committee.
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 2020.
There are strong, long-standing legal protections in place that prohibit the Census Bureau or any other part of the federal government from using census data against the people who supply it. Individual responses to the 2020 Census are confidential and can only be used to produce statistics. This includes responses on census questionnaires, names, addresses, and residential locations. That means no landlord, employer, business or government agency (including law enforcement and immigration) can ever see your answers. Your 2020 PFD application asks you to share more personal information that the Census will.
Alaskans will be asked to provide the following information:
Number of people residing at their address.
Name, gender, age (including date of birth), and race/ethnicity of each person living at that residence.
If residents own or rent.
A phone number in case there is a need to follow up on a resident’s responses for any reason.
April 1st, 2020 is Census Day. For those who split their time 50/50 between Valdez and another home (in Alaska or the Lower 48), they should be counted wherever they reside on Census Day. Reporting in these cases can done in the same manner, as other self-reporting; online, mail-in survey or via the phone.
In order to assist with getting an accurate count in Valdez, staff is working to create a Complete Count Committee (CCC). The CCC aims to utilize local knowledge, influence, and resources to educate communities and promote the Census through targeted outreach efforts. The committee will be made up of representatives from the City of Valdez, local organizations and businesses and other agencies. A list of committee members will be provided to Council, once finalized.
Timeline for the 2020 Census in Alaska:
January 2020: Enumeration of Remote Alaska begins in Toksook Bay, AK
February - March 2020: Interior and Eastern Alaskan counted in person
March - April 2020: North Slope and Aleutians counted in person
March 2020: Online Self-Response Opens
April 1, 2020: 2020 Census Day
April 2020: Non-response follow-up for households that did not submit a Census form
July 2020: Self-Response Deadline
December 31, 2020: Census Bureau delivers count to President of the United States.
Ten questions. Ten minutes of your time. Ten years of impact for Alaska.
Every Alaskan counts!