Mayor's Message: Census 2020
Posted on: April 10, 2020 - 12:30pm
Dear everyone,
By now you should have received a number of notices asking you to fill in the US Census and there are a bunch of ways to respond: online, by phone or by mail. The invite contains your household’s Census ID, but even if you can’t find the invitation you can still respond. So … if you haven’t yet done so, you can complete the census online by clicking HERE, OR by calling 844-330-2020, OR by using the physical copy that has just arrived in the mail (or will do so any day now). The whole process should only take 10 minutes and all the questions are straightforward. Please report everyone who was living in your house on April 1st (census day).
Thanks to the amazing work of Linda Loeb, our Deputy Village Clerk, and her team, the response rate for Hastings-on-Hudson is 64.1%, and the brilliant news is that today Hastings-on-Hudson is ranked #1 among the Rivertowns and #2 in New York State (we were #1 in New York a day or two ago but Croton-on-Hudson edged us out). Apparently there is a concerted effort underway in the other Rivertowns to oust us from our position, and we in turn want to topple Croton – so please fire up your competitive spirit and help us rack up more responses!
For those of you interested in the national statistics and how we rank see HERE. The dashboard is pretty easy to use – you just need to select New York State and Westchester County and you’ll see us pop up near the top of the list. As super as our response rate is for New York, it was pretty disconcerting to see municipalities in Iowa and North Dakota with response rates in the 80s. However, to put things in perspective the top two US municipalities had such tiny populations we look like a mega metropolis in comparison (in the last census Westwood, Iowa had a population of 112 and North River, North Dakota had a population of 56)!
The first census in the United States took place over 230 years ago beginning on August 2, 1790. Back then there were 3.9 million people living in our country, now there are about 330 million. For all you history buffs see HERE for more information on the history of the US Census.
Some of you may be wondering why the Census is important. Well, there are a bunch of reasons. The count determines the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives, and is used to draw congressional and state legislative districts. Lawmakers, business owners, and others use Census data to make critical decisions. The results will show where communities need new schools, new clinics, new roads, and more services for families, older adults, and children. The results will also inform how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding are allocated to more than 100 programs, including Medicaid, Head Start, block grants for community mental health services, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In pure financial terms the estimates are that each municipality stands to gain $2,500 per person counted – that’s real money which we need now more than ever. And finally, for all you genealogists, the census is living history that takes a snapshot of our lives today so that future generations can piece together stories about where we live and who is part of our family.
The census only happens once every 10 years so now is your chance to get counted!
Sincerely,
Nicola Armacost
Mayor