Message from Mayor Becker
The Constitution of the
United States requires that a census or count of the
people be taken every 10 years to allocate congressional
seats and government funding. The first census conducted
in 1790 asked simple questions regarding the number of
people in the home, sex, age, and occupation. Since that
time, however, census questions have evolved to provide
additional demographic information about people living
in America.
The 2010 Census is fast
approaching. An accurate Census is important to the City
for several reasons:
-
Sales tax is
distributed at the State level based partly on
population as determined by the Census.
-
The results of the
Census determine how more than $400 billion in
federal funds are distributed annually to state,
local, and tribal areas.
-
Redistricting for City
Council and state legislative seats and school board
districts is done based on population information
from the Census.
-
The results of the
Census determine how Congress is apportioned.
In 2000, Utah missed a
fourth Congressional seat by just 857 people, and a High
Court challenge ensued over the inability to count
11,000 Mormon missionaries from Utah who were living out
of state. The real significant problem, however, was
that the nearly 50,000 Hispanics then living in the
State were not counted at all. This undercount resulted
not only in the loss of an additional Congressional
seat, but more importantly in the loss of information
that could have been used to help the City and State
better serve all residents. To ensure that another
undercount in Utah – and Salt Lake City in particular –
does not occur, it is absolutely imperative that all
residents, especially underserved ethnic minorities,
regardless of their citizenship status or documentation,
be identified and counted. Your assistance in this
endeavor is greatly needed and very much appreciated.
Click
here to read the entire letter from the Mayor.
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