Lack of participation in 2020 census could cost Dade millions – again

A census meeting occurred on July 8 at the Dade Administrative Building to discuss the county’s progress in getting citizens to fill out the 2020 census.

 

Dade County Deputy Clerk Carey Anderson, Trenton-Dade Optimist Member Jane Dixon, Dade County Public Library Manager Marshanna Sharp and Atlanta Regional Census Center Partnership Specialist Ty Harps were all present at the meeting. The group discussed the current completion percentage versus the final percentage in 2010.

 

Currently, Dade County has a census completion rate of 50%, which is lower than the state of Georgia’s 57.8% and the national rate of 62%. Based on the numbers so far, the census shows that only over 8,000 people live in Dade County instead of the already established 16,100. Anderson believes there are more than that currently living in the county because the established number is from the 2010 census, which only had a completion rate of 61 percent.

 

Harps said that the federal government pays $1,500 per head based on the census numbers, which means that after a 61% completion rate in 2010, Dade County lost a chance to earn an additional $144 million in funding to be used for roads, schools, and everything in between.

 

“That’s a lot of money,” Harps said.

 

“That money is going somewhere but it’s just not coming here,” Anderson said.