Title
Authorize the Board of Supervisors and/or their designated representatives to discuss the rent free use of vacant County office space to the U.S. Census Bureau to site an Area Census Office (ACO) in Monterey County and assist in obtaining a complete count during the 2020 Census.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors authorize the Board of Supervisors and/or their designated representatives to discuss the rent free use of vacant County office space to the U.S. Census Bureau to site an Area Census Office (ACO) in Monterey County and assist in obtaining a complete count during the 2020 Census.
SUMMARY
The U.S. Constitution mandates that the federal government conduct a decennial census. Census data is used to determine federal funding levels to states for a variety of critical programs including health care, social services, transportation, public safety, and more. Based on 2010 Census data, California receives over $70 billion from the federal government for more than 70 programs. Census data is also used to determine the number of seats each state gets in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Hard-to-count (HTC) communities are well-documented by the U.S. Census Bureau, with an estimated 35% of those living in HTC neighborhoods comprised of populations historically missed in the Census count at disproportionately high rates (e.g.: people of color, young children, immigrants, and renters). According to a recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California, Monterey County has the highest percentage of noncitizens of any California county, 21.7%.
Given the funding, services, and representation at risk as a result of a Census undercount, and the HTC communities in the County, the County has requested that an Area Census Office (ACO) be located in Monterey County.
DISCUSSION
In October 2018, the County wrote a letter to the U.S. Census Bureau, urging that an Area Census Office (ACO) be located in Monterey County. Th...
Click here for full text