Census count for Dougherty County lagging due to Covid-19

ALBANY — During a year in which the rhythms of life have been disrupted across the board, it is no surprise that the once-a-decade U.S. population count is perhaps not on everyone’s radar.

The number of Dougherty County residents who have completed the 2020 Census is behind where it was in 2010, and time is running out to be counted.

About 56.2 percent of county residents have completed Census forms, lagging the state’s figure of 58 percent, Paul Forgey, director of Planning and Development Services for the city of Albany and Dougherty County, told Albany city commissioners Tuesday.

Forgey, who also heads up the Albany-Dougherty County Complete Count Committee for the Census, said during a Tuesday report that the novel coronavirus has hampered some of the usual events held to boost participation.

One Census tract in east Albany had a participation rate of just 31.3% as of July 8, and another in central Albany was at 35.9%, he said.

Those locations “correspond with low income and poverty,” he said. “Those areas are less likely to report.”

The committee will focus on boosting participation in those areas.

“I think one of the biggest things will be if people call their friends,” Forgey said. “If people call 10 friends and tell them how important it is. It takes about 10 minutes (completing forms). It is very important to the community.”

Each resident not counted means the potential for the loss of both money and political representation as the formula for distributing federal dollars and drawing voter districts is based on the count, Forgey said.

“There are billions of dollars in federal spending that are allocated based on population,” he said.

For each person not counted, there could be a reduction in federal spending earmarked for the county in the amount of $2,000 to $3,000 for each year of the next decade, he said.

After Aug. 11, the Census Bureau will begin sending out workers door to door to households that have not completed the form. The count ends on Oct. 31.

“With the coronavirus, I have seen a lot of people who are not concerned about the Census,” Commissioner Jon Howard said.

Counting the Hispanic population also is a challenge, he said.

In other business Tuesday, the commission:

♦ Heard a report on a proposed contract for video recording devices for the Albany Police Department. The proposed contract with Motorola/WatchGuard would provide 90 each of car-mounted and body cameras for officers and four license plate reader devices at a cost of $840,000, replacing equipment purchased in 2012.

♦ Discussed a $338,000 one-year contract with the Albany Humane Society for housing animals. The city would spend $296,200 for custodial services, an increase of $77,255 — the first since 2010 — and cover euthanization of up to 3,900 animals at a cost of $65 each.

File Photo: Alan Mauldin
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