2020 Census Committee appointed by Logansport mayor

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Last Updated on August 20, 2019 by cassnetwork

Ensuring an accurate population count is one of the most important things the community can do next year, Mayor Dave Kitchell said today.

Since decennial census numbers are used not only to determine federal funding for programs such as Title I in schools, but as a barometer for community growth, getting local residents to fill out a census form either mailed or online will be key for the next 10 years, he said.

“Even now, there are conflicting numbers when it comes to how much Logansport has grown in the past four years,” Kitchell said. “We need college students, members of the armed services, those in healthcare facilities and snowbirds to be counted if this is their legal residence.”

Kitchell has appointed a Logansport Complete Count Committee to encourage local residents to be counted in the 2020 Census. The 17-member committee will meet at 2 p.m. Sept. 25 in the city council chambers. The committee reflects sectors recommended by the Census Bureau to be included in the completion of the Census, which is required under the Constitution.

The committee is a new concept recommended by the Census Bureau. Earlier this year, a regional Census Bureau official approached Logansport and recommended it implement the complete count committee.

The city’s official population on July 1, 2018, was 17,728, but population estimates from other sources have projected the current 2019 population at 18,300 or higher.

World Population Review statistics report that Logansport had its first positive population growth in 18 years last year. The city had a population of 18,396 in the 2010 census, down from 19,684 in 2000. The city’s largest Census count was in 1920 when it was 21,626. Population dropped below 20,000 in 1930 but improved to 20,177 in 1940, 21,031 in 1950, and 21,106 in 1960 – that last time a Census total for the city was more than 20,000.

The Census committee was ranked No. 7 on the Mayor’s “19 for 19” agenda for the city announced in January.

The Census reports that Indiana tied for third in mail-in response in 2010, but the rate was only 79 percent.

SOURCE: News release from Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell

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