Wednesday, April 07, 1999
Warren to promote full returns in census
Committee formed at bureau request
BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — The U.S. Census Bureau wants Warren County leaders to help in the people-counting business.
A representative on Tuesday persuaded the county commission to set up a local committee that will push residents to fill out the 2000 census forms next year.
The idea is part of a nationwide program by the federal agency to encourage local solutions to population undercounting. Warren became the 14th county in southern Ohio to agree to the concept. Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Brown and Adams counties have already signed on.
Each person not counted in the census costs states, cities and counties thousands of dollars in federal and state aid. For instance, Cincinnati lost $40 million when its population of 358,000 was underestimated by 3.1 percent in the 1990 census, according to a U.S. Conference of Mayors survey.
“The idea is that we can get the message across to people of Warren County if it is given by representatives of Warren County,” said Cynthia King, community partnership specialist in southern Ohio for the U.S. Census Bureau.
“It's never been done at the county level before, and we think it will make a difference. It has to.”
The type of growth facing Warren County makes it crucial for it to participate, she added.
As the second-fastest-growing county in the state, Warren County has seen its population rise 28 percent since 1990, from 113,927 to an estimated 146,033 in 1998.
But counties can use only numbers based on documented residents — not estimates — when applying for money for roads, schools, housing and health care, Ms. King said. That's what makes full participation in the census so important.
The committees are run and paid for with local contributions. Clermont County's committee already is prepared to set up census 2000 posters in schools, businesses, political offices and summer festivals.
Warren County Commissioners Pat South and Larry Crisenbery agreed to set up another meeting with Ms. King and political leaders throughout the county to create a committee.
But Commissioner C. Michael Kilburn voiced his skepticism.
“To me the best way to do this is to take the tools that exist already,” he said. “Birth certificates minus death certificates equals population.”
Ms. King said the census is more than about counting people, it's about profiling the country.
“Looking at a birth certificate doesn't tell us what your community needs,” she said.
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