Staff reports 11:12 a.m.
Monday, August 26, 2019 11:13 am

ROCHESTER - The city plans to form a Complete Count Committee to encourage full, active participation in the upcoming 2020 census.

The committee will comprise representatives from throughout the community and city government, including partners from housing, economic and community development, planning, social services and more. They will hold their first meeting on Sept. 17 at 9 a.m. in order to lay the groundwork for driving complete citywide participation in next year's U.S. census.

"It's critical that we do all that we can to raise awareness and drive participation in the census, so that we have the most holistic picture possible of the makeup of our community," City Manager Blaine Cox said. "I'm looking forward to the work the Complete Count Committee will do to ensure that every person in Rochester is accounted for and represented by the census."

Census Bureau Partnership Specialist Nicole McKenzie will present at the kickoff meeting next month, outlining the critical data collected by the census and the impact that data has on the state in the ensuing decade.

The census impacts how much federal and state funding is given to communities for various projects in categories like education, transportation and public health. In Fiscal Year 2016, for example, New Hampshire benefited from over $3.7 billion in federal spending based on data derived from the 2010 census.

The census also impacts the state's representation in Congress and the Electoral College, as well as residents' representation in state and local government. The data are also used in the creation of legislative district boundaries.

For more information about the 2020 census, visit 2020census.gov. Rochester's Complete Count Committee Kickoff Meeting will be held at Great Bay at Rochester, 5 Milton Road.