[lsiebert]

This is worth quoting here IMHO:

"However, even if you don't get fined for not filling out the census form, there are some good reasons you should do it anyway. Seats in the House of Representatives seats are apportioned by population, with the most populous states receiving the most seats. Federal and state governments rely on census data to budget for social welfare programs that assist the poor, elderly, disabled and veterans. Cities and private industry use demographic figures to plan new hospitals and housing developments, and to assess the need for new schools or new strip malls. So, not filling out the census form may cost you something in the long run."

[anadem]

> not filling out the census form may cost you something in the long run.

On the average each uncounted person loses their district $2,000 per year in federal payments (i.e. tax money returning to the district). Losing $20,000 over the ten years between censuses is a big deal for school and other program funding.

PLEASE BE COUNTED!

[ikeboy]

Got a citation for that? You're suggesting $600B+ is allocated by the federal government based on census numbers?

[vilhelm_s]

https://gwipp.gwu.edu/counting-dollars-2020-role-decennial-c...

They calculate that in 2017 there were $1,504,191,364,000 in Federal spending guided by the census numbers, which is about $4,600 per capita.

In this paper [1] they look at some specific programs:

> Five grant programs administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) use the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), based on the 2010 Decennial Census population count, to determine reimbursements to and payments from each state government (totaling $286.1 billion in Fiscal Year 2015). The five FMAP-guided programs are Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Title IV-E Foster Care, Title IV-E Adoption Assistance, and the Child Care and Development Fund. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, reimbursements to and payments from state governments under these five programs totaled $286.1 billion (48.1% of all federal grants to states and 13.0% of all state budgets).In FY2015, 37 states forfeited a measurable amount of funds for each person missed in the 2010 Census.

> Among these 37 states, the median FY2015 loss per person missed in the 2010 Census was $1,091. FY2015 loss per person missed ranged from $533 for Utah to $2,309 for Vermont. The median state is Tennessee.

[1] https://gwipp.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2181/f/downloads/G...

[ben0x539]

The article links to this other article, https://people.howstuffworks.com/census.htm, which states:

> Every year, federal and state governments use census data to allocate more than $675 billion toward public services and infrastructure [source: U.S. Census Bureau].

The link is to https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizat....

[Fezzik]

It certainly seems possible. That’s not even 7% of the annual budget. We spend a lot of money. Can’t find a citation on my phone though.

[dmurray]

Are the apportionments done based on the number of census forms returned, though, or based on the Census Bureau's best estimate of population? Presumably the Bureau have a better guess than that, using an adjustment factor that could be different for each state.

[ajross]

Apportionment is based on direct census count only. Indeed there is better science available for population estimation (and IIRC some of it indeed gets done by the Census Bureau's reporting), but that's not how the law was written.

[thechao]

It's called the "American Community Survey" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Community_Survey). It's a great piece of high-quality, modern, scientifically valid demographic work that the C.B. does between its enforced stints with 18th c. `demographicology' that the constitution requires.

[diebeforei485]

Apportionments (and redistricting) are done every 10 years based on the actual census enumeration.

This is required by the constitution: Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 - as amended by the 14th Amendment.

[coryrc]

Some of us live where we oppose all of the current elected officials. In that case, it sounds like opting out is the only effective "vote" we can make in a FPTP system

[jonny_eh]

That's like cutting of the nose to spite the face.

[simonh]

You can reasonably oppose the officials, sure, but the schools and other services in your area still need funding. Avoiding the census is a vote not to fund them, and unlike a normal vote every single return or lack of it has a direct impact on the level of that funding.

Also the census results are applied for a whole decade during which officials can change and many elections will take place.

[eru]

The effective vote is the one with your feet.

[dsfyu404ed]

>Seats in the House of Representatives seats are apportioned by population, with the most populous states receiving the most seats.

People in the minority party in solidly red/blue states would want their state to lose votes in order to increase the representation of their party.

[onionisafruit]

Not everything is about national politics. I live in a Republican controlled state, and even though I’m not a Republican, I want us to be represented and properly funded. So I will fill out my census form. Just because I don’t have the same political views as my neighbors doesn’t mean I want to disenfranchise them (and myself while I’m at it).