City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM



DATE: SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL

FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/

DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Resolution Establishing a Complete Count Committee for the 2020 U.S. Census.[ROLL-CALL VOTE]
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ISSUE: The establishment of a Complete Count Committee for the 2020 U.S. Census to ensure an accurate count of the City's population.

RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:

1) Approve the resolution (Attachment 1) establishing an Alexandria Complete Count Committee;

2) Authorize the City Manager to select a person to serve as Chair of the Committee; and

3) Authorize the City Manager to solicit and appoint members to the group.

BACKGROUND: The United States Constitution requires the Federal Government to conduct a national census every ten years. The next Census will be in April of 2020. To make this census as accurate a count of the country's population as possible, the U.S. Bureau of the Census has requested that local governments establish "complete count committees." The purpose of these committees is to encourage local residents to participate in the Census. Considering the Census Bureau's request and because the City has been undercounted in the past, there are good reasons to establish and fund an Alexandria complete count committee for the 2020 U.S. Census. The committee will need to be established by the end of 2018.

While the Census Bureau did not identify a statistically significant undercount for Alexandria's total population estimate for the 2010 U.S. Census, they found that certain demographic groups are more likely to be undercounted at a national level. The undercount was highest among minorities with an 2.06% undercount of the nation's non-Hispanic Black population and a 1.54% of the nation's Hispanic population. Renters were undercounted by 1.09%, and children u...

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