Celebrate Meridian—Census

Census Day has come and gone and I am proud to say that Meridian was one of the top ten communities in the country in terms of Census response rates as of April 1! I want to applaud our citizens, 56% of which promptly completed and returned their Census by Census day. We led the state and showed the nation that we are doing our part to ensure the success of our communities in the future giving us much to celebrate in Meridian.

Many of you are aware through the Census commercials that this is a crucial tool used by government when determining the best allocation of resources –and I couldn’t agree more. Due to the growth Meridian has seen over the past decade, having an accurate count assists with location of schools, transportation funding, assure we have an adequate level of representation at the state and federal level in voting districts, as well as the allocation of funds to benefit organizations like the Meridian Food Bank, Meridian Senior Center and the Boy’s & Girls Club. While the pace has slowed, many families are still making the decision to move to Meridian, and this information will help make decisions on allocation of resources and services to maintain our levels of service for current residents and provide for our new citizens.

I found the new format to be easy and straight forward, and finished mine in less then ten minutes. Today nearly 70% of our community has responded, yet there are still many of you that haven’t been counted. I would urge you to take the time to fill out the Census; each individual counted can result in up to $14,000 dollars for our community over the next ten years.

If you lost or threw away your Census or have questions you can stop by the Idaho Youth Ranch Store on Main Street to pickup a copy. I recommend you call first at 895-8433 to ensure a Census worker is available. A second Census form will be mailed out in a few weeks if you do not fill out and return a form. In addition a Census worker may come to your home and knock on your door and attempt to fill out the information. Unfortunately this is a costly and time consuming effort – occurring up to six times – so it is best to turn in your form as soon as possible to save taxpayer money in this effort.

With the great people that live in our community I know we will continue to be a leader in the country when it comes to returning our Census forms through the mail. I want to thank all of you for doing your part so far. Meridian is a community that is standing up to be counted as part of the 2010 Census, so please join me as we celebrate Meridian as the premier community to live, work and raise a family.