Sure we’ve had other things on our minds in 2020. There’s a little matter of a pandemic of which you may have heard.
But.
Milam County, and Texas for that matter, simply hasn’t done very well in filling out this year’s Census forms. As of the weekend, the count showed about 44 percent of Milam residents had responded, 60 percent statewide.
The deadline is sneaking up on us, too. It’s not easy to ferret out the actual last day to respond on the census website but the Census Bureau is required by law to deliver the numbers in December. On Aug. 1, Census teams went out door-todoor to try and coax those people who didn’t fill out the forms that came in the mail this spring.
And the website says that last-ditch canvassing will end at the end of October. Not all that far off.
It’s not too late. In fact you can still fill out that form and mail it in. If you’ve lost it there are still a couple of options left:
Online—Navigate to my2020census.gov. There, click on the globe icon at the top of the page and select the language. You can also select your preferred language there at the bottom of any screen.
Phone—English. 844-330-2020; Spanish, 844-468-2020.
(The Census Bureau also warns that scammers are operating, sending fake forms through the mail, hoping to fool you into sending your personal information to someone who will use it for no good. If the return address doesn’t say U.S. Census Bureau, National Processing Center in either Jeffersonville, Indiana, or Phoenix, Arizona, it’s fake.)
Speaking of privacy, there are still some conspiracy-minded folks, who apparently don’t mind having their local taxes raised, who won’t fill out census forms because they are afraid the government will share their information with, with...well, that’s not really clear.
We say “who don’t mind having their local taxes raised” because census counts are used to determine how much aid to which area governmental entities are entitled. If there’s an undercount where you live, there’s certainly the potential for your local taxes to go up to make up for what your at-home government entity should have received.
Besides, every census worker is required to sign an oath not to disclose any information on any individual.
So it’s actually pretty important. The Founders sure thought so. They included it in the Constitution and there’s been one every 10 years since 1790.
Frankly that 44-percent Milam County completion rate is a little scary. Of course it’s wholly understandable that filling out a census form might be on the back burner in this sad, mad year of 2020 where we all mask up to go buy a loaf of bread.
But that sure doesn’t mean it’s less important this year than it has been in any other year ending in zero.
Please respond.—M.B.
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