Nov. 1--BERKS COUNTY RESIDENTS, organizations and municipal governments missed out on an estimated $59,866,000 in federal funding over the past decade.
That's because the population was undercounted in the 2000 census, and numerous government programs distribute funds based on population.
Those programs range from food stamps for the needy to funding for highway projects.
There were 373,638 people counted, which was off by about 0.7 percent, or 2,565 people, the U.S. Census Bureau later estimated.
Berks is not alone. Several communities around the country have lost more than $100 million in funding over the last decade due to undercounting.
But local officials who are gearing up for the 2010 census are hoping Berks can do better this time.
They'll have to convince those who don't want to participate in the census for a variety of reasons, from fearing that their information will be used against them by the government to simply opposing being questioned as an invasion of privacy.
The Berks Complete Count Committee has been lining up people to take count of folks who may be hard for census takers to find or convince to participate, said committee co-coordinator Isabel Monterrosa.
Those who are typically undercounted include college students, rural residents, migrant workers, older residents and ethnic minorities, especially those who don't understand much English, said co-coordinator Cindy L. Kauff man.
Undocumented workers may be worried information will be shared with federal immigration officials and seniors may feel they've answered these questions enough times over the years, Kauff man said.
"And in housing projects there may be many people who are living there who aren't supposed to be," Monterrosa said.
But census workers are barred from sharing information with any other government agency and could be fined or jailed or both for doing so, said committee member Michael D. Golembiewski, a transportation modeler for the Berks County Planning Commission.
"In the past, the FBI has asked for information from the Census Bureau," Golembiewski said. "They are denied. Presidents have asked for information. They are denied. If there are illegal housing units in a building, the city won't get that information. If the IRS asks for information, they won't get that information.
"Still, there's a whole antigovernment crowd and they are both rural and urban."
Answers on a census form remain confidential for 72 years, Monterrosa said.
Participating in the census is as much an obligation of a good citizen as is the right to vote, Kauff man said.
"It's your obligation to stand up and be counted," she said. "If you're not, we lose out on funding, and those are dollars that belong here."
"The more we count, the more we get," Golembiewski said. "One of the ironies is that many of the people who fear the census are also the those who use a great portion of the services that are funded at levels based on census numbers."
Still, it's diffi cult to convince some that it's worthwhile to participate, Kauff man said.
"They just want to count you; there is no hidden agenda," she said.
Census offi cials have wondered whether privacy concerns in the first post-9/11 census might reduce response rates.
They decided to improve their odds by making the census form much shorter this time, with only 10 questions.
More detailed information about the country has been collected in the annual American Community Survey, which produces ongoing socioeconomic data by surveying a sampling of homes.
The problem with that is some households may then receive both the census and the American Community Survey and decide not to fi ll out the longer form, Golembiewski said.
"We're going to have to convince people to fill out both," he said.
Contact Jason Brudereck: 610-371-5044 or
jbrudereck@readingeagle.com
To see more of the Reading Eagle, or to subscribe, go to
http://www.readingeagle.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Reading Eagle, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
