News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Sparta residents will start seeing information on their trash cans about taking the 2020 census.
Sparta City Administrator Brad Hennessee said the city will be follwing garbage trucks and sticking fliers on cans once they are emptied. Hennessee said showing a population over 5,000 people changes funding for the city.
“That’s a bench mark in the up-sizing for the funding if we can show more than 5,000 residents,” Hennessee said. “Then, we will be eligible for more direct money as well as more programs in the future.”
Hennessee said this tactic will hopefully catch people while they are already home, so they can easily take it online. The census push comes from the deadline moving up from late October, to September 30th.
“We’re hoping that this is a quick way where we can get to everyone quickly,” Hennessee said. “It’d be a reminder, hopefully they’ll have time when they see the notice.”
The census count is one of the determining factors for how much state and federal funding a city receives. If the census has not been filled out by an individual, it can still be done online.
