St. Joseph mayor encourages everyone to fill out census online

Today, is Census Day and if you haven't completed yours online or mailed it back yet today, it's time to get'r done.

Mayor Tami Fruhling-Voges has bet with a couple of area mayors and is enjoying a significant lead in the wager and she needs everyone's help in padding the village's numbers.

"I looked up the numbers for March 25th and I currently have bragging rights for St. Joseph with ours being a 42.8% response rate," said Fruhling-Voges. "Mahomet is at 37.3% and Savoy is at 30.0%."

The purpose of the census is to figure out how many seats each state receives in the U.S. House of Representatives. The federal government also uses the data to distributed more than $675 billion annually to states for various programs.

If a household does not response or the form is incomplete, someone from the Census Bureau will follow up either by phone or in person to get the missing or needed information.

She is encouraging members of the community who have not yet done their part to do so.

"While we're all stuck at home get those Census responses sent in!" she said.

You can fill out the form online today at https://my2020census.gov/. The online questionnaire takes about 15 minutes to complete. The online portal is the fast and secure way to help the village and state receive the funding it deserves.