MACON, Ga. —
Numbers from the 2010 Census suggest Macon-Bibb County lost $16 million dollars over 10 years because of under-reported communities, according to District 8 Macon-Bibb Commissioner Virgil Watkins.
This means the county lost out on vital federal funding. Watkins says that’s why it’s even more important the county gets a complete count this year.
"We are very much at risk of doing that again this year if we don’t reach out to these communities," Watkins said in a committee meeting last week.
He says Macon-Bibb is working towards everyone being counted in the 2020 Census.
"Low poverty, lack of internet access, ethnic minority, language barriers--making sure they know and feel safe," Watkins said.
RELATED: What to expect for the 2020 Census
This Census has some big changes. For the first time, you can complete the Census online, but for some that could be a problem.
"We know that about a third of our community doesn’t have daily access to the internet," Watkins said.
Ultimately, it's the local government’s job to help provide residents with internet access to complete the census. However, an even bigger change for local governments, like Macon-Bibb, is the federal government isn’t contributing as many resources as they have in previous years.
"In 2010, 2000, and 1990, the federal government provided funding for this outreach work," Watkins said. "For whatever reason, this year, the federal government decided not to fund outreach to any significant level."
Watkins says the government will contribute in technical ways like access to the Census website and showing who’s filled out the Census, but the outreach work is up to communities.
Koplin and Lynn Snyder are both part of the steering committee for the organization. They’re targeting areas who were under-reported in 2010.
"We’ll be getting a list of addresses in those hard-to-count areas," Koplin said.
They're sending postcards to those areas to explain why it’s important to be included.
"We need to know how many people live here, what services they need, what parts of towns they live in," Koplin said. "It’s important for economic development, education, and healthcare."
"Having an accurate Census is vital for those services," Lynn said.
Koplin says she personally got involved with Census outreach so Macon is represented.
"I think it’s really important to be represented, to have community buy into everything that’s going on, and encourage more people to move here, and to open a business here. But we have to know who’s already here," Koplin said.
Watkins says this will go towards marketing, direct mail, and outreach workers knocking door-to-door.
Their overall goal is to get rid of barriers like internet access or language that may be in the way.
The Macon-Bibb County Commission is set to vote on funding Census outreach on Tuesday.
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