McHenry Times

McHenry County issued the following announcement on Oct. 26.

The people of McHenry County answered the call to stand up and be counted for the 2020 U.S. Census.

McHenry County tentatively had 82.3 percent of its households respond, tying with Kendall County for the second-highest rate by county in Illinois, and 19th highest in the nation. The deadline to self-report for the Census expired Oct. 15.

“I can’t say enough how pleased I am that the people of McHenry County realized how vital the Census is to us,” County Board Chairman Jack Franks, D-Marengo, said. “The decennial national count of every American determines our share of billions of dollars for our roads, schools, and innumerable other services upon which county residents rely, as well as how we are represented in Springfield and Washington. All I have to say, looking at these response numbers, is job well done!”

Tens of billions of dollars are steered to states each year based on population – Illinois received more than $55 billion in Census-based federal funding in 2017 alone, according to the George Washington University Institute of Public Policy.

McHenry County is home to the municipality with the highest response rate in the state – Trout Valley’s 91.8 percent response rate was the 16th highest in the nation. Two more made it into the top 10 statewide: Spring Grove was seventh with an 89 percent rate, and Huntley was ninth with an 88.2 percent rate. Lakewood just missed making it into the top 10 – it came in 11th, with an 87.4 percent response rate.

Last year, Chairman Franks created the McHenry County Complete Count Committee, made up of local political, school, community and faith leaders to ensure that every county resident be counted. County Board member Michael Vijuk, who co-chaired the committee with Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager, lauded the results.

“The county’s Census success is more than a number. It shows that each and every Census participant cares about their neighbors and their community, and wants to make McHenry County even more of a wonderful place to live and work by bringing needed funds and business opportunities to McHenry County through improved education, transportation and health care funding,” Vijuk, D-Cary, said.

The Census, conducted every 10 years since 1790, plays a major role in our representative democracy. It determines the number of seats Illinois has in the U.S. House of Representatives, which in turn determines the bulk of the number of electoral votes the state gets in electing the president. Census numbers are also used to determine the boundaries of our Illinois House and Illinois Senate districts, as well as those of the County Board, and the aldermanic districts of the Harvard, Marengo and McHenry city councils.

About 4.5 percent more county residents responded to the 2020 Census, compared to the 77.8 percent rate in 2010. Trout Valley, Lakewood and Huntley saw increases of 7 percent of more. Woodstock saw a 5.3 percent increase, while Lake in the Hills and Wonder Lake saw increases of 5 percent.

Original source can be found here.