Millions of dollars are at stake.

The Llano County Judge is urging residents to take the 2020 Census because of its financial impact on the county, especially the school district.

More than 43 percent of Llano County households have responded, lagging behind its 2010 self-response rate of 49 percent, according to U.S. Census Bureau data on June 22.

“Every person counts,” said Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham. “When our citizens respond to the census and accurately account for their family, we ensure the continuation of programs that are important to families.”

The nationwide self-response rate so far is more than 61 percent, with just over 56 percent of Texas households responding as of June 22.

Counties across Texas are experiencing challenges in 2020 that were nowhere on the radar in 2010.

“This has been a challenging year for most counties to obtain high response rates to the census,” Cunningham said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has limited face-to-face interaction, which means that it’s more difficult for Census-takers to go door-to-door. But you can respond online or by phone with minimal effort.”

He acknowledged that there might be an increased fear of identity theft and concerns about privacy, but said that the confidentiality of census records is protected by federal law.

Funding and allocations

On a national level, the results of the once-a-decade U.S. Census influence how approximately $1.5 trillion in federal funding are allocated to hundreds of programs, funds and grants across the nation.

“The results will show where communities need new schools, clinics, roads, and more services for families, older adults, and children,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Locally, that translates into millions of dollars.

“In 2019, the Llano Independent School District received approximately $2 million in federal revenue for school programs that support educational services with high levels of children living in poverty,” Cunningham said. “The distribution of these funds is determined by formula, but the amount of funds each area is eligible to receive is driven by a single variable: its share of children aged 5 to 17 who are from low-income families.”

Data also is used in other ways.

“It’s used to determine an area’s per-capita income, which is a key variable that determines funding allocation and eligibility for some of the largest federal spending programs,” he said.

The effects can be felt at a household level, particularly during a crisis such as the coronavirus.

“As recently as in May, the federal government distributed money to states to help contain and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic,” Cunningham said. “The amount of money Llano County received was directly dependent upon the number of residents who reported in the last census.”

Census data also is used to determine the number of House of Representative seats for each state and to draw congressional and state legislative districts.

Llano County residents benefit from many programs including the Medical Assistance Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicare Supplemental Insurance, State Children’s Health Insurance, Highway Planning and Construction as well as education programs like the National School Lunch Program, Title 1 Grants, Special Education Grants and Head Start. Other residents benefit from housing programs such as Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers.

“The 2020 Census is designed to be easy, safe and quick to complete online,” Cunningham said. “When I completed the census for our family, I completed it online and it took less than 20 minutes.

In April, the Census Bureau began mailing paper questionnaires to homes that had not yet responded online or by phone.