Carbon County is gearing up for the 2020 census.

On Thursday, the board of commissioners discussed the upcoming census, which will provide a new picture on where money will be distributed and how congressional districts will be aligned for the next decade.

The census aims to count every person in the U.S. every 10 years and provides valuable information aimed at supporting governments financially, determine how many seats are held by a state in the U.S. House of Representatives and define legislature districts in states.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the Carbon County Council of Governments will hold an important meeting for municipalities at 7 p.m. on Feb. 25 in the commissioners’ meeting room in Jim Thorpe. He is encouraging representatives from each municipality to attend.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich, who was appointed the new voting representative for Carbon County on the Carbon Council of Governments, said that the purpose of the meeting is to form the Complete Count Committee. It is a formal program from the U.S. Census Bureau that will be ensuring every person in Carbon County is being counted in the census.

“The census bureau emphasizes that this year, compared to other decennials, that this (the census) is safe, it’s easy and it’s important,” Lukasevich said. “That means that first it is safe, because your information is protected. It’s not shared with any other organization or agency. It’s easy (because) it’s simply 10 questions and you can do it over the phone or via the internet and it’s important, because it has to do with federal funding ... and how congressional districts are aligned.”

Nothstein said that letters will be going out to residents soon about the census, which begins April 1, and strongly encourages people to participate.

“Each person counted could mean $20,000 (over the next 10-year period), to the residents of Carbon county, whether it be through the Community Development Block Grant funding or to local municipalities,” he said. “It is extremely important we get an accurate count, because it is revenue for the county in several ways.”

Nothstein pointed out one instance where a municipality lost its entitlement status after the 2010 census, meaning that instead of receiving CDBG money annually automatically because it met the 4,000 population threshold, the community dropped to the nonentitlement communities that must apply for and share funds.

Carbon County has grown in population over the last 20 years.

In 2000, the census results showed 58,802 residents in Carbon County. Ten years later, that number grew to 65,249.

For more information on the upcoming census, visit www.census.gov.