National Census Day

Every year, April 1st is recognized as National Census Day, a great opportunity to review your census plans. The next census is fast approaching and will be used to redraw electoral districts and to allocate federal funding for affordable housing, emergency services, schools, and infrastructure. In honor of Census Day, we are bringing you this bonus episode of our census conversation from this year’s Congressional City Conference.

For more information, visit us at nlc.org.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Welcome back to City City. We give listeners an insider's view of what local leadership in America means today and future conversations with government leaders and policy experts regarding the biggest issues and challenges facing America's cities, towns, and villages. Every year, April 1st is recognized as National Census Day. This is a great opportunity to review how your census data impacts your community and ensure that you're prepared to support an accurate count in 2030. This year's Census Day is even more important because the Census Bureau is kicking off its one and only test in preparation for the 2030 decennial in Huntsville, Alabama, and Spartanburg, South Carolina. As you'll hear our speakers say today, the Census is more than just a population count. It's the foundation for how political representation and federal resources, including for affordable housing, emergency services, and infrastructure, are distributed across the country. If you're undercounted in 2030, that can impact your state and federal funding distribution, which are taxpayer dollars returning to your residents for the next decade. The 2030 census is fast approaching, and operations are already in full swing. In honor of Census Day, we're bringing you this bonus episode of our census conversation from this year's Congressional City Conference. Enjoy this numerical conversation and come back for another episode of City City.

SPEAKER_04 1:33

Five years on, it's clear that the American Rescue Plan Act didn't just fix roads to ports or water systems. It was an investment in our future.

NLC President and Councilmember Kevin Kramer, Louisville, Kentucky 2:11

At its core, the census is a simple count of the people who live in our communities, but its impact is profound. The National League of Cities is proud to support this effort. Strengthening the census operations has been one of NLC's priorities this year and will remain a priority through 2030. Our next panel will take a closer look at how census data determines federal funding distribution for essential services like roads and bridges, community development, and emergency response. This afternoon, I'm joined by Joel Alvarez, the Director of the Population Division in New York City, Spartanburg, South Carolina Mayor Jerome Rice, and Springdale, Arkansas Mayor Doug Sprouse. The 2020 census faced unprecedented challenges driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted the accuracy of the count in many communities. The next few years provide communities with an opportunity to fix what didn't go well in 2020 and strengthen what did. An accurate 2030 census will impact cities, towns, and villages across the country for the next decade. This census is not political, it is one of the most fundamental acts of good governance and a cornerstone of how we invest in and understand our communities. With our panelists, let's talk through what local governments can expect in the upcoming census and how we can all prepare for it now. Mayor Sprouse, to help us set the context for why an accurate census count is so important to communities, can you share how the 2020 census went in Springdale?

SPEAKER_02 3:58

Well, thank you. We believe we were significantly undercounted. We thought we were doing all the things right. We started early, we had our complete count committee. We have a very diverse community. We have a and in Springdale, a city of about 95,000. We have uh we're 40 percent Hispanic. We have a uh the largest Marshallese population outside of the Marshall Islands, uh and and they are uh not to not to chase a rabbit here, but after World War II, the U.S. government used uh the a lot of test did a lot of nuclear testing in and around the Marshall Islands. So there are areas that they still can't fish, and when they come so when they come to us, many times they have a much higher percentage of what we learned in COVID was comorbidities, as we as we as we called them, and uh high high blood pressure, hypertension, uh uh diabetes. And so just we had all kinds of festivals planned. We had the we'd worked with our chamber, with our with our uh faith community, with with our schools, and we thought we had everything lined up. And then of course, COVID came. And uh, and that first wave of COVID, um obviously it canceled everything. And uh, but but even more than that, our Marshallese community was hit tremendously hard. I mean we were we were having several funerals a week at the peak uh from our Marshallese community, and it was just a very, very difficult time. They went underground and there was no getting there was no getting them back to talk about a census at all. And uh we had a couple of other things happen, but they happened all over the country. Certainly in 19 the this the talk uh of the possibility of a citizenship question on the census was uh it didn't end up on the census, but I think the damage had already been done. I understand why we might want to know those things. I I agree with that, but we need to keep things like that apart from the conversation of the census because it creates more fear and uh more reluctance to participate. As as you said in your introduction, the census is about counting people. We're we're in the business to provide services for our residents. That's really the only charge we've got. Uh that's why we have jobs. And uh, and as Senator Paul said, we don't have printing presses, we count on we count on what we can afford, and that turn back money from both the federal and the state government uh is essential for us. And if you miss it on the census, then you're behind the eight ball for 10 years. Even with even with updating estimates, your baseline is still still undercounted. And uh and so it in Springdale's case, we believe by the time we get to 2030 it will have been tens of millions of dollars. And that's a great lead-in to my next question.

NLC President and Councilmember Kevin Kramer, Louisville, Kentucky 6:48

So um, can you talk a little bit about the real world problems that you guys are facing, or real world consequences, I should say, that you guys are facing in Springdale as a result of that undercount?

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Sure. Um our state turn back, which we use for roads and infrastructure, that's that's determined by population. Uh federal grants for many of our nonprofits who provide uh needed services for our residents. Uh those those are determined. So we're we're dealing with uh while we're a very fast-growing area, it just exacerbates that issue because we're not getting fully funded for the growth we have already had. And uh and we we're we're always playing catch-up, and and it's it's a tough, it's a tough road to host sometimes.

NLC President and Councilmember Kevin Kramer, Louisville, Kentucky 7:35

Sure. Thank you. Mayor Rice, Spartanburg, South Carolina is one of the two census test sites this this decade. Um these test sites allow both federal and state uh local communities the time and space to prepare for 2020, 2030. Can you share what the city's doing as part of the test?

SPEAKER_03 7:52

Sure. Um I would like to say what we're doing in Spartanburg, we um understand the importance of this census and the need for an accurate population count. So when we got the call that we were one of the test sites, um immediately we um got together with our team, internal team, mobilized an internal team led by our deputy city manager, along with neighborhood services, um, our communications department, as well as our planning department, to have a strategy within the city. And then from there, our key component was to go to outreach, outreach into the community, and also bring in your faith-based community, your school district, your colleges, your universities, uh, United Way, uh, and the list goes on from your nonprofit sectors, and we made uh soft introductions to those folks with the field team that's coming forward to count the census. But we all understand truly how important it is and the resources that it will provide. Also, in determining the outcome, there is that the city works with the field team uh uh to support the recruitment of the local testers as well. So we have opportunities for folks to go out and that know the community and will make it available to where we can test and use these um new tools that are readily available that can help us for 2030. And again, we all know the importance of an accurate count. That's the key, an accurate count that we can get as many possible. Certainly.

NLC President and Councilmember Kevin Kramer, Louisville, Kentucky 9:33

So, Director Alvarez, something that's quickly coming up for the census is the local update of census addresses. LUCA is the name of the program, um, which is the only direct way that cities, towns, and villages can impact their census count. Can you share why LUCA is so important to New York City and how the city is starting to prepare?

SPEAKER_06 9:54

Yes, thank you. Um, uh it's a nice, nice acronym that sounds good. Uh, is your chance to tell the Census Bureau what's wrong or missing from the list of addresses that they intend to contact for the 2030 census? So, quite simply, if you're not on the Census Bureau's address list, you're probably not going to get counted. Uh, and we can run into issues that we've seen before. Uh so before the 2020 census, New York City participated in LUCA and updated the census address list with tens of thousands of missing housing units, and that helped ensure that we received a complete census count. That's why this operation, LUCA, is so important, because the stakes are very high, as we all know, when it comes to the census. And that's why we've already started preparing for the 2030 LUCA operation. Right now we're building our own independent address list, looking at things that are readily available across the country, like property tax records, addresses from utility companies, and Department of Motor Vehicle data. And we're conducting targeted field work as well to tell us what reality looks like on the ground. And all of this information will give us an independent address list which we can use to update the Census Bureau's address list.

NLC President and Councilmember Kevin Kramer, Louisville, Kentucky 11:24

Great. Thank you. I know that NLC is hosting a webinar on LUCA in just a few weeks. Um, but for those that want to sneak peek, can you share what's at stake if a community doesn't participate in LUCA at all? Does the Census Bureau just use its own data and move on?

SPEAKER_06 11:40

Yes. Uh the stakes are very high. Uh back in 1990, before the establishment of this LUCA operation, there was a well-documented uh census undercount all across the country. Uh and the Census Bureau's own retrospective assessment was that New York City was undercounted by a quarter of a million people. But in the lead up to the subsequent 2000 census, New York City participated in the newly established LUCA program, submitting thousands of addresses. And consequently, New York City's 2000 census yielded no discernible undercount. So Luca really works. It's incredibly effective at combating undercounts. And needless to say, we've participated in every LUCA since that successful 2000 update. And really, every community across the country can benefit from LUCA. Yes, in New York City we have some complicated housing arrangements, but we also have simple, straightforward housing like residential towers and low-density housing subdivisions. And even there, we've found addresses that were missing from the Census Bureau's contact list. So quite simply, many missing units can be hiding in plain sight. So no matter how simple you believe your housing arrangements are, it's well worth the time to check if the Census Bureau has it right and participate in LUCA. And yes, if cities don't participate in LUCA, then the Census Bureau simply proceeds without that local input.

NLC President and Councilmember Kevin Kramer, Louisville, Kentucky 13:26

So if you could get everyone in this room one action item to take home from this panel today, what would it be? I'm gonna throw it up to the three of you.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

I'll start. Besides not have a pandemic. Um besides not have a pandemic. Uh I'm gonna start earlier. I'm also I'm gonna begin. I think I think we and our council and our our leaders in our city, our chamber, we need to get everybody engaged in education about what the census is truly for and what it's not for. And uh and and try and try and mitigate those fears that are out there among across our population uh from every stripe and ideology. There are there are issues and concerns about the census, and they sh they there's no need for them to be, and we need to get that education out there and do a better job with it.

unknown 14:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Also, in in in ministry room, and I don't have to tell this room, but you know, it it's all about funding. The distribution to the uh communities for services such as schools, health care, housing, uh, transportation comes with the census. Determine our representation in Congress and the U.S. uh House of Representatives, provide government the uh data for infrastructure, public safety, and uh community programs, and then in the end, it helps the communities receive a fair share of resources and the representation through all the Accurate Counts. One thing we like to say in Spartanburg and with our staff, we want to over-communicate. Over-communicate. That's why I said we started back in 2025 as to getting the teams together, having an outreach program, but we want to over-communicate the importance of the census and how it is to not just the city of Spartanburg, the state of South Carolina, but into the entire USA.

SPEAKER_06 15:19

Uh and for me, uh, I would suggest that everyone here register when you receive uh the Luca invitation. It goes to the Hyde elected officials in cities and towns all across the country. Uh it's free, and it gives you the option of supporting a complete count in your community.

NLC President and Councilmember Kevin Kramer, Louisville, Kentucky 15:38

Well, great. Thank you guys for your leadership. We really appreciate it and for the work that you're doing to ensure that every community is accurately seen and will be continued to seen, counted, I'm sorry, and will be counted in 2030. So thank you again. I appreciate you guys being here. Thank you. Thank you.

NLC 16:01

Thanks for listening to City Speak with Clarence Anthony. If you like the show, let us know. Share this episode with your friends, and make sure to subscribe. We're curious to hear what you think, what you want more of, and how we can improve. If you have feedback or an idea for a guest you'd like Clarence to sit down with, send us your thoughts at citiespeakpodcast at nlc.org. Join us next month for a new episode. Like and subscribe here wherever you get your podcast.