The Importance of Snowbirds This Census
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| 10/27/2009 |
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| Some say it`s a retiree`s dream come true, heading down south during the winter months. And that`s what has city officials scrambling to make sure they get everyone counted, including the snow birds. "It`s a migration, yes, yes, there are a lot of people in Bismarck-Mandan that are in the Mesa area, Phoenix area all winter long," says Bismarck resident Paul Blumhardt. Like a flock of birds, Paul and his wife Jody enjoy the north in the summer, but when winter rolls around, they don`t want any part of it, so they head south. "I just assume that when the census is done, if we`re not here, we`ll be contacted by mail or something, I don`t know," says Blumhardt. The Blumhardt`s admit they haven`t put any thought into the 2010 census, but, they do want to make sure they`re counted as North Dakotan residents. Bismarck City Administrator Bill Wocken agrees. "The census is really important to us because we need to make sure our count is as complete as possible, a lot of federal revenues are based on population, so if our population is under-counted based on the rest of the country, we short ourselves revenue," says Wocken. Wocken says Bismarck and other cities are taking steps to ensure everyone`s counted. For example, Bismarck has established a `Complete Count Committee.` The committee`s branches focus on counting the homeless and college students, and publicizing the census for when the count takes place on April 1st. "A complete count, do the best job we can with the census, it`s very very important to us, because what we do in 2010 of course we live with for 10 years, so that`s a little added importance," Wocken says. The Census bureau says it`s important that people like the Blumhardts respond to the 2010 census form they receive from North Dakota, not the one they receive from their `snowbird` state. "We want to be counted for North Dakota, it`s important for statistics, that North Dakota has the population correct and so forth," says Paul Blumhardt. The census is important because the number of people in the state help determine the number of representatives in the house. It`s also just good statistical data for the state. External Links: http://www.census.gov. |
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