Washington County leaders are trying to mobilize a Complete Count Committee to make sure every head gets counted in the 2020 Census. Millions of dollars in federal and state money are at stake, along with the county’s visibility as a destination for business enterprises.

The national head count done every 10 years is coming in April, and to ensure Washington County and the communities within it receive their deserved share of federal and state resources, getting an accurate population count is crucial.

A presentation by census partnership representative Victoria Mattson last week at the Washington County Career Center board meeting suggested that the county is at risk of an undercount of up to 10 percent. Mattson passed out information folders and urged the board to work toward establishing a committee.

On Thursday, Flite Freimann, executive director of Washington County Job and Family Services, urged the Washington County Commissioners to back the establishment of a committee.

After the meeting, Freimann said there is a general consensus that the 2010 Census, which showed 61,788 residents in the county, undercounted the population by an unknown but noticeable factor. The 2000 Census showed 63,251, meaning a decline of 1,473 over 10 years.

“It doesn’t have to be a big number to have a big impact,” he said. “The ramifications are cascading, less funding for my agency, Job and Family Services, as well as Washington-Morgan Community Action, other agencies that are funded in whole or in part by the state and federal governments.”

The people likely to be missed in the census, he said, are the same demographic group likely to benefit the most from state and federal assistance, such as SNAP benefits, Head Start and housing assistance.

“We’re dealing with a population that is sometimes transient, difficult to get hold of, and sometimes fearful of government,” he said. “You might have a grandparent caring for children in an arrangement not authorized by a court order, people living together in the same house who haven’t notified children services. It’s not uncommon for people to purchase a mobile home or a camper and relocate to a family member’s property when they’re having difficulties.”

Mattson told the career center board that each uncounted person represents more than $2,000 in a variety of federal support programs the county would not receive. If the undercount is in the 10 percent range, the consequence would be tens of millions of dollars foregone by the county.

The Census Bureau in the two years following the 2010 Census conducted a study indicating that as many as 1 million children age 4 and younger were missed in that census for a number of reasons, including the increasingly fluid arrangements of family living and the mobility of many families living in poverty. The bureau came to that conclusion by comparing census data to birth, death and mobility information at the county level across the nation.

Freimann said that if the demand for services from county agencies exceeds the allocation of money to support them, the agencies are faced with difficult decisions.

“At the end of the day you’re going to get it done,” he said. “The question is, where it comes from – you’ve already paid your state and federal taxes, so do we want to get it back?”

Internal Revenue Service data for 2016 show that residents of Zip Code 45750, the immediate area around Marietta, paid more than $100 million in individual federal income tax alone. According to data posted at USAgov, the federal information website, in 2017 the county received $298 million in federal government funds, the majority of which were direct payments to individuals under programs such as Social Security and veterans’ benefits.

The city of Marietta also reaps substantial benefits from the federal government based on Census data. Development director Andy Coleman said that this year the city’s population dropped below 14,000, according to the annual census bureau population estimates, and the community block development grant declined by $10,000.

“One of the big contributing factors is population lag, how well we’re keeping up with other cities. Our projection for 2019 shows us below 14,000, ” he said. “We had expected $410,000 but it came in at $400,000, so we had to go back to the community to see what we were going to cut back on.”

The programs scaled back included an emergency repair program that helps low-to-moderate-income people remain in homes they own, he said. Another was a painting program to help people in the same group maintain the structural integrity of their homes.

“It’s a program to stave off blight and homelessness,” Coleman said. “It helps people stay in their homes rather than having to move out because of a failed roof or furnace.”

By not spending money on that sort of preventative assistance, he said, the city and county agencies encounter other and sometimes greater costs down the road.

“There are a wide variety of results, people needing assistance with other housing, and utilities,” he said. “At some point, it might become necessary to go after those abandoned properties as they deteriorate further, with code enforcement, legal fees, the cost is put into negative uses rather than positive ones.”

Freimann said a starting point would be training agencies to encourage people to fill out the census when they receive it.

“Whether it’s people seeking food assistance or help from the community action agency, or even renewing a license at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, it’s just agency people asking, ‘Have you filled out your census form?'” he said. “And it’s important for people to know that no one is coming to their door, no one is coming later, this information is not shared with anyone.”

A Census Bureau spokesperson said Thursday that anyone who discloses Census information is subject to “massive” fines and potential jail time, under violations of Titles 13 and 26 of federal law. The bureau is also planning a “robust” advertising campaign “to make people feel more confident” about the security of their census information.

County commissioner David White said the county is backing the complete count commission concept.

“We sanctioned the idea to investigate putting together a committee,” he said. “It’s a good idea to be proactive about it, to get ahead of the curve.”

Local governments have a stake in the outcome.

“Townships have big concerns about this. Many of them have poverty rates higher than 50 percent, and it’s important to reflect that accurately,” he said. “In the past, I think it’s fair to say, the counts in this county have very probably not been accurate.”

Complete Count 2020

• Would promote getting everyone in Washington County included in the 2020 Census count.

• County is at risk of undercount that could be as high as 10 percent of actual population.

• Census data forms the basis for numerous federal and state grants to local government.

• Business enterprises considering locations use Census data as a screening factor for communities.

Source: Census Bureau.