By AARON MUELLER
Niles Daily Star

Niles City Administrator Terry Eull hopes every city resident will stand up and be counted this year.

The 2010 United States Census forms will be mailed or delivered to households this month, and those forms will be significant at both the state and local levels.

The amount of funding the city of Niles receives from the federal and state governments will be determined by the population statistics from this year’s census, Eull said.

“When we get revenue sharing from the state, it’s determined by population,” he said. “Not only are we in an era of declining revenue sharing, but it will be a double whammy with less population.”

A decrease in population could also mean less entitlement money that the city gets for being a low- to moderate-income community.

Eull does expect to see a decrease in population in Niles in this year’s census, although he could not estimate by how much. In 2000, the city’s population dipped 1 percent from 1990 – smaller than the 5 percent decrease in the 1990 census.

Meanwhile, Niles Township saw its population increase by about 500 people (4.7 percent) in the 2000 census – a trend that Niles Charter Township Supervisor Jim Kidwell expects to continue.
“I believe we will see a big increase in our population in the township,” Kidwell said. “We’ve seen growth from people coming from cities and surrounding areas.”

Kidwell believes more people are moving to townships from cities for the open space townships have to offer. But the increase in population will mean nothing in terms of funding if people do not respond to the census forms.

“It’s really my urgency to get the people to respond (to the census),” he said, “so we can get our fair share of the revenue sharing from the federal government.”

Eull and Kidwell both added that the census is important in terms of representation in the federal government and the funding counties get for road projects, hospitals and emergency services.
And with Michigan taking a hit in population with the downturn of the economy, it’s all the more important that every resident reply to the survey, according to Eull.

“It’s important to the state,” Eull said. “We could lose a federal representative. That’s not unheard of in states losing population.”

The 2010 census forms are 10-question surveys to be distributed this month. April 1 is National Census Day, a point of reference for sending forms back in the mail.

For more information about the U.S. census visit 2010.census.gov.

The census forms are much shorter this year, under the promotion “10 questions in 10 minutes.” Here is the information you will need to provide:

Number of people in household
If you own or rent
Telephone number
Name
Sex
Age/Date of birth
Are you of Hispanic origin?
Race
Relationship to head of household
Visitors in household

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

INFOBOX

“Why the 2010 Census Matters,” an informational event featuring Nicholas McGee of the U.S. Census Bureau, will take place March 16 from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Niles DDA, 210 East Main St. Niles. Learn how your business or organization can make an impact. The presentation is free.