2010 Census time on The Murfreesboro Post

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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Content Editor

Posted: Sunday, March 7, 2010 6:42 am

By MICHELLE WILLARD

Post Content Editor

In the next few weeks every household in the United States will receive a very important form: the 2010 Census.

“It’s safe. It’s simple. It’s in our hands,” Rutherford County Census Community Coordinator Terry Cunningham said.

The 2010 Census is only 10 questions long and should only take a short time to fill out completely.

“They just want to know how many people are living in the household,” Cunningham said.

As required by the Constitution, all U.S. residents must be counted, including citizens and non-citizens.

Returning a completed Census questionnaire is important because state populations determine representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Tennessee General Assembly, as well as distribution of federal funds.

Every year, the federal government distributes more than $400 billion to states and communities based on census data, including block grants and community programs like after-school programs and social services.

On the state level, Tennessee uses official population figures to calculate the amount of state-shared revenue cities and counties receive.

The state of Tennessee shares these taxes with cities at a rate of $112.46 per person and counties receive $81 per person.

When Murfreesboro finished its special census two years ago, it generated more than $2 million in additional revenue from the state for the 19,192 people who have moved to the community since the last special census in 2005.

Smyrna and La Vergne also saw similar population, which netted the cities close to $550,000 and $127,000 respectively.

Should population estimates hold up, Rutherford County has added more than 67,000 people since the last census in 2000, meaning the state may have to cough up another $5.4 million in shared revenue.

In these tough economic times, the additional funds could be put to good use by county government to keep taxes down, Cunningham said.

To help every household complete the census form, 15 informational sites will be set up across the county where workers will answer questions about the forms.

If the initial form isn’t filled out and returned, a follow-up form will be mailed out. And if that form isn’t returned Census employees will go around knocking on doors, she added.

She also wanted to stress all information collected is confidential for 72 years. And census workers will never ask for a social security number or any bank information.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or a mwillard@ murfreesboropost.com

Tagged under Census

Member Opinions:

By: confused on 3/8/10
"Returning a completed Census questionnaire is important because state populations determine representation in the U.S. House of Representatives..." so why do we want to count illegals? they should not determine anything that any state gets, including any political seats basec on umbers!

By: SocEtTuem on 3/9/10
The census was intended to count heads and I have no objection to that. That is precisely the information I will provide. Nothing more.