Santa Maria and Guadalupe leaders say Census response is low amid coronavirus pandemic

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Santa Maria and Guadalupe city leaders say they are concerned Census response numbers may be low because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Wednesday is Census Day, though there is still time for people to be counted. Residents can send in responses via mail, phone or online.

Census workers will begin home visits to those who have not responded at the end of May.

Both the cities of Santa Maria and Guadalupe are considered hard to count in the census.

That means there are several people who are less likely to be counted, many being children or minorities, or who live in rural areas.

Officials say Northern Santa Barbara County has around a 30 percent response rate.

The census decides how much federal money each city receives for the next 10 years. For every person who is not counted, both cities could lose around $20,000 in that time period.

City leaders say they are concerned cancelled census events may cause low response rates. The events were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Those [events] were going to make it much easier for people who had questions or fear or simply didn't know how they were going to fill out the census to go get some free assistance," said Mark Van de Kamp, spokesman for the City of Santa Maria.

The census count is also important for emergency situations like this. Public health experts are using census data to respond to the pandemic.

An accurate 2020 census count will help in future disasters.