By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
A representative from the U.S. Census Bureau presented at the Feb. 13 meeting of the North Syracuse Village Board of Trustees.
“You can help shape the future with the 2020 Census,” said Matt Vincent, a partnership specialist with the Census Bureau.
According to Vincent, the Census will count 330 million people in 140 million American households this year. Census data is used to draw the lines of legislative districts, school district boundaries and determine Congressional representation. Vincent said Census data is also used to determine the allocation of $675 billion in federal funding for highway improvements, nutrition programs, Native American tribal governments and other measures.
The Census will send its first round of letters to American households March 12, inviting families to participate in the questionnaire. People can respond to the survey online, over the phone, on paper or in person. People are legally required to respond to the American Community Survey. Households will receive reminder letters and a paper survey before a Census taker visits their home.
Vincent said he expects Census operations to wrap up around mid- to late July. The results are due in the president’s office Dec. 31, 2020.
Mayor Gary Butterfield asked what the Census Bureau does to prevent fraud and protect people from scams.
Vincent said residents can report scams on the Census’ website. He said the Census will never ask for someone’s Social Security number, credit card or bank information, money or political information.
“Anyone asking for that kind of information claiming to be part of the Census, it’s a sure sign of a fraudulent scam,” Vincent said.
Visit census.gov/programs-surveys/surveyhelp/verify-a-survey.html to learn how to identify official Census mailings and personnel.
“We are also actively looking for those perpetrating scams,” Vincent said. “We look for duplicates. We look for anomalous responses, and we’ll follow up with those people.”
Vincent said the Census protects individual data and uses the data to aggregate statistics about the population of the United States. The bureau is also focused on cybersecurity, ensuring that data submitted online is encrypted.
For more information about the 2020 Census, visit 2020census.gov.
Also on the agenda
• Electronic signs: The village board approved changes to the village code allowing places of worship in R-9 residential districts to have electronic signs. The amendment also allows businesses to replace existing signs with electronic ones without site plan approval as long as the size and placement of the new sign are the same as the existing one.
• Block Builders: The village’s “Block Builders” group, which will help homeowners seek grants to spruce up their houses and front yards, met Jan. 27. Mayor Gary Butterfield said the group is seeking additional members. The next meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, at the North Syracuse Community Center. Linda Eagan, a member of the Fulton Block Builders committee, will present at the meeting about the city of Fulton’s program.
