Officials: the Census is no joke
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
By: Elizabeth Fiedler
efiedler@whyy.org
Today is not an election day, but Philadelphia officials are waging a campaign of their own as part of National Census Day.
Only 57% of Philadelphians mailed back their census forms in 2000 — well below the Pennsylvania state average of 72%.
This time city officials hope to boost that number by educating Philadelphians about how easy it is to fill out the form, and how important it is.
Philly Counts Executive Director Tricia Enright is leading the city's census effort.
Enright: The city of Philadelphia for every person that is not counted in the Census, stands to lose over $2,800 per person per year for 10 years. So that's a lot of money that's coming into our neighborhoods for the services and programs that we count on.
Enright says Philadelphians can call 311 for help getting a form or filling it out.