With a deadline of Oct. 31 to complete the U.S. Census count, state and local leaders are pushing residents who have not yet participated to do so as soon as possible. 

On a call with statewide media Tuesday, Gov. Kay Ivey said Alabama needs to get as many residents counted as possible or risk losing critical federal funding and representation in the U.S. Congress. At stake is approximately $13 billion in annual federal funding and one, or possibly two, Congressional seats.

“We all win when the state achieves maximum participation,” she said.

Currently, Alabama’s response rate is 59.8 percent, below the national response rate of 62.2 percent.

Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) Director Kenneth Boswell said Tuesday if the census ended today, with the current numbers, Alabama would lose one Congressional seat and possibly a second.

Cullman County and its municipalities are generally above the state response rate with a few exceptions. Currently, 63 percent of Cullman County residents have filled out the census form. Fairview has the highest response rate of 72.7 percent, while South Vinemont has had the least participation with only 49.6 percent of the population having filled out the census form.

Population counts are used in Cullman County to divide sales tax among the municipalities, making an accurate count important to each. The census takes place every 10 years, so the division of funds will not take place for another decade.

This will be the first official census count for Berlin, which incorporated two years ago. At that time, the self-response rate for the population count was less than 50 percent, said Mayor Patrick Bates. In the current census count, the town’s participation rate is 57 percent.

“It is very important for Berlin that we have a full and accurate count with the current census,” said Bates. “Unlike the other municipalities, we have only two years of growth to report rather than their 10 years. Getting everyone counted, including residences which did not report the first time around, is key to us simply maintaining our current revenue levels. We are already preparing for a potential revenue loss due to the census in our proposed 2021 budget by reducing categories of anticipated revenues from 10 to 30 percent depending on how sensitive they are to population.”

“This funding comes back to our schools, our healthcare, our roads and determines our representation in D.C.,” said Cullman Economic Development Special Projects Coordinator Susan Eller. The Census Committee for Cullman County, representing a broad section of governments and nonprofits, planned community-based Census Days to promote participation. They were able to hold one, in Garden City on March 14, before the coronavirus pandemic put those plans on hold.

The local committee, though, has not stopped pushing for participation and a few communities – Vinemont, Garden City and Fairview – have exceeded their participation from the 2010 census, while the others are very close to the participation levels of 2010.

“We’re not quitting, we’re going to continue,” said Eller. Since July 1, they have gotten an additional 600 people to fill out the form by visiting the courthouse, Hispanic groceries, apartment complexes and laundromats. Several cities and towns have also done prize drawings to promote participation.

To encourage more Alabamians to get involved, the state is launching a new messaging campaign for the census count, highlighting how having an accurate count impacts individuals and families. Census numbers are used to determine federal funding for food programs, school funding, grants and other benefits. 

The coronavirus pandemic hit just as efforts began to promote census kicked off, but Boswell said they plan to “make an even stronger push the rest of the summer and into the fall.”

The Alabama Census Committee has partnered with businesses for a “Drop Everything” event on Aug. 12, when employees will be allowed to complete the census questionnaire at work. The form takes about six minutes to complete.

Census Bureau employees will also be going to the homes of people who have not responded. Marilyn Stephens, assistant regional manager for the Census Bureau Atlanta region, said census workers will be wearing masks and staying outside as protection against the coronavirus, and will also have visible identification so people will know they are with the Census Bureau.

She encouraged people to avoid hearing that knock on their doors by completing the form. “Today is the day to respond,” she said.

Stephens emphasized that the Census Bureau is bound by law to keep individual information private.

Eller said people who are concerned about providing personal information should take into consideration that the federal government already collects information on individuals. “You pay taxes,” she said. “We want those taxes to come back to our community. That’s the way they use the numbers to bring the money to the communities.”

Anyone who needs assistance in filling out the form can contact Eller’s office at 256-739-1891 or visit the office at 200 1st St. NE to fill out the form on an IPad. Individuals can stay in their cars if they wish. Eller said they are also happy to assist any group events. “If someone is having a meeting or event, and they want us to come, we have Ipads we can bring with us. We’ll be glad to be help them anyway we can,” she said.