Staff Report
Some are homeowners while others rent. Some are making their parents proud by attending college, while others do all they can to avoid notice because they lack proper documentation to even be here. Still others don’t have a permanent address, sleeping in their vehicles, camping in the woods or along local streams.
All those folks are part of the population of Hays County, and all those situations provide an obstacle to the accurate count of people living in the U.S.A. that is demanded by our Constitution every 10 years via the national Census.
Hays County – some 200 miles from the Mexican border, home to two thriving universities and one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation located along the business-friendly “innovation corridor” – has a population more diverse than many. But that very fact makes it hard to get an accurate count.
The county’s population is just over 222,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and of that, 25 to 30 percent are at risk for being undercounted.
That matters, because federal funds for things ranging from infrastructure, to healthcare, education and more depend on the Census count. It’s estimated that federal assistance across the nation totals $675 billion.
Although the Texas Legislature did not allocate any money to facilitate an accurate count, other sources have stepped in to help fund the Complete County Committees established by cities and counties.
The Hays County Complete Count Committee (CCC) is not yet fully staffed, but the Commissioners Court on Jan. 28 ramped up its game of preparation by naming Jessica Mejia as its new part-time Census coordinator.
Commissioners also approved a proclamation, which declares April 1 to be “Census Day” and notes in part that the CCC contains representatives of the business community, educational sector, faith-based community and diverse community organizations. County Judge Ruben Becerra also made a point to note that the Census doesn’t ask about citizenship, and that Census information cannot, for a period of 72 years, be shared with any other agency.
“Our task is to encourage our residents to participate in the Census and educate them on the methods they can use to answer the Census survey,” Becerra said.
Census forms will be mailed out beginning March 12 and can be answered through the mail, over the phone or on the internet. A free hotline through 2-1-1 will also be available to provide assistance to anyone who needs it.
With a population estimated near 29 million, Texas could stand to lose up to $43 billion in federal funds yearly if the Census is not successful. An undercount of just 1 percent could cost the state $300 million a year over the course of the next decade.
“Our CCC includes representatives from throughout the county and has already set up task forces to encourage participation from nonprofits, businesses, the education community and others to help get the right information to our residents, Anita Collins, Becerra’s executive assistant, said.
A sampling of the programs that could be affected by an undercount includes Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, highway funding and construction, Pell grants, Head Start, the National School Lunch program, Section 8 housing vouchers, WIC, low-income energy assistance, unemployment insurance, CDBG Disaster Recovery Grants, historic preservation funds, small business development grants, violence against women initiatives, emergency food assistance, assistance to firefighters and public housing capital funds.
