Census Bureau preparing for local 2020 count

The U.S. Census Bureau laid out plans to canvas Lincoln County for next year’s questionnaire, Wednesday at a Lincoln County Commissioners meeting.

Karen Murphy, with the census bureau, said she wants to get locals informed and prepared for the 2020 census, with the potential for more federal funding for the area or even another congressional seat for Montana.

“Our area up here, in your neck of the woods, is considered a hard to count area,” said Murphy.

For every person that is not counted, Lincoln County loses around $2,000 per year in funding such as grants based on census data, she said.

Montana missed $21 million worth of funds last census due to a lack of questionnaire participants she said.

“I’ve been asked, ‘what if I refuse to respond?’ It’s the law, you’re supposed to respond,” she said.

Residents can phone in their answers, fill them out online or mail it in, she said. The questionnaire will ask about gender, race and the tenure of the resident’s household.

If the census bureau received a good turnout in Montana, paired with a bad turnout in another state, such as California, the state would be able to take one of their congressional seats, she said.

In addition, the more responses they receive, the more money the state will receive, she said. Montana has 300 programs that rely on federal funding from the census, she said.

“I’m going to be running around next year, knocking on doors,” she said.

There will be workers going out searching for residents to complete the questionnaire everywhere next year, she said

Murphy is looking for community members to start a committee in Libby. It would be a group of a half dozen volunteers, to help canvas for next year’s census, she said.

These volunteers would go to large, public events such as fairs or board meetings to help spread the word, she said.

Aside from volunteers, the census bureau is looking to hire 325 people in Lincoln county to help deliver the census, she said. The bureau will pay $13.50 an hour to employees.

If people do not respond to the census by april 2020, census workers will be knocking on their doors, she said.

By May, if residents still have not responded to federal employees carrying out the census, they have the option to repeatedly come back to someone’s address.

Between 60 and 65 percent of people in the county usually respond, which is really low, she said.

Missed people means missed dollars and missed opportunities, she said.