While census information won’t be needed for another four months, officials have been working long hours to increase awareness on the “most important survey in the last 10 years.”

The 2010 Census will act as the official population count for the nation and could contribute to Lake Havasu City receiving grant funding as well as representatives in Congress. A few members of city staff, known as the Complete Count Committee, have attended school board meetings, committee meetings and several local events since the summer in an attempt to let people know the importance of the count.

“We want to make sure we count everybody,” Code Enforcement Supervisor and Complete Count Chairperson Janice Sorenson said. “Our goal is to target those people that traditionally have missed out. If you live in Lake Havasu in April 2010, we want to make sure you are counted here.”

The 2000 Census counted 41,938 people in Lake Havasu City, far below a 2006 estimate of 56,355. Sorenson said she could not speculate as to how many might be counted in 2010, but stressed the importance of counting every individual.

“Officials also estimated that the city will take in about $1,000 less in funding for every person that isn’t counted,” she said. “This one count will be in place for the next 10 years. We are asking each person only 10 questions that will determine funding and the city’s voice in Arizona for those next 10 years.”

Sorenson added that personal information taken in the census is not shared with other government agencies.

“One huge misconception is that people think that their information is going to be handed out and they’re going to get additional taxes or people harassing them,” she said. “The truth is, the information people give out is going to benefit the entire city and everything personal will be kept confidential. You can only benefit from taking the census.”

U.S. Census Bureau liaison and Partnership Assistant Sonia Cunningham said she has worked with the Complete Count Committee since July to spread the word.

“Our job is to educate people so that when those letters start arriving in March, they will know how important it is to fill them out,” Cunningham said. “It’s going to count toward so much that could help to improve the city. If we reach 200,000 people in Mohave County, my understanding is there will be two more county supervisors. If our population is high enough, we could see more representatives in Congress fighting for us.”

Cunningham said census information will appear in every mailbox in March and census takers will visit several locations throughout the city to count citizens without residences.

“Our snapshot date is April 1, 2010. We want to make sure everyone that lives in the city at that time is counted,” she said. “We’re going to give people every opportunity to mail their responses, but we will also go knocking on doors if we don’t receive anything in the mail. It’s only 10 questions and it takes 10 minutes.”

You can contact the reporter at nbruttell@havasunews.com