Low Census response in Kansas City causes local concern

Local community leaders in Kansas City, Mo. have expressed concern over recent reports of a low Census response in the Kansas City area.

Leaders are have said that if residents do not complete the 2020 U.S. Census, the region could potentially lose millions of federal dollars.

Marlene Nagel, community development director for the Mid-America Regional Council, said more than $600 billion annually in federal funds is distributed to states and communities based on Census data, reports 41 Action News.

“For every person we miss, we risk losing millions of dollars over the next decade,” Nagel said.

To the benefit of many local and state governments, the federal government recently moved the Census deadline up by one month.

In Jackson County, only 61.3% of residents completed the Census, down 5.1% from the response rate in 2010, according to data from Aug. 5, reports 41 Action News. Some neighborhoods in the county had less than a 30% reporting rate.

Aside from affecting the amount of funding that is given for things such as reduced student lunches, housing and health care, information completed and submitted in the Census affects representation in government, as well as how boundaries are drawn in local elections.

“The more time we can give people to get their kids back to school, be able to get back to work and to pay attention to the Census, the more time we have to promote it, it would have been helpful to have more time to promote it,” Nagel said.