West Central Michigan News

The U.S. Census is cutting their counting operation by one month.

The organization had scheduled to end field collecting, as well as self and online responses, in October of this year, but announced this will happen in September instead, 9&10 News reported. To address cutting their counting operations, the U.S. Census has added employees to speed it up through September, but some areas may not be counted by then. 

“Folks that tend to be undercounted in a census are those who rent their property, who may not have internet access, because 2020 is our first internet or online Census form. If you look at some of the counties we have in the Upper Peninsula or Northern lower, they are those that are far behind the rest of the state,” Kerry Ebersole Singh, executive director of the Michigan 2020 Census, told 9&10 News. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer | stock photo

If these areas are undercounted, it will result in underfunding of the areas. 

“The Census is extremely important to communities like Missaukee County because so many federal and even state programs are based on your count, the number of people that reside in your corporate district. So an accurate count, making sure everyone is counted is essential to supporting programs in the county,” County Administrator Precia Garland told 9&10 News.

Counting also contributes to school funding. If an area is undercounted, schools may not receive all the money they need. 

Superintendent Dr. Bob Grover said Chippewa Hills School District needs approximately $1 million to properly fund the district for a year. If counting goes wrong, it could cut critical money from going to the district. 

“So it’s very important that we have an accurate number of what our real population is for school-aged students so that when they figure out percentage for economically disadvantaged, we get an appropriate amount for our Title funding,” Grover told 9&10 News. 

Michigan's U.S. Census current response rate is approximately 69%, which is 10% higher than the last census. 

“Cutting short operations by a month will seriously impact the ability of the U.S. Census Bureau to deliver an accurate and complete count, and in turn hurt American families everywhere," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement, 9&10 News reported.