When I asked some family members and friends whether they had filled out and submitted the 2020 U.S. Census questionnaire, I get some blank stares.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot,” said one. “It’s on my to-do list,” said another. “No, I have a few other more important things on my mind,” scolded yet another.

The sad truth is that more than six months into the nation’s official count just 65.2% of the households in the nation have been counted.

The average among the five counties in the Times News area (Carbon, Schuylkill, Monroe, Northampton and Lehigh) is even lower - 62.3%

Northampton has the best record, with 72.5% completion, followed by Lehigh, 71.7%; Schuylkill, 61.5%; Carbon, 56.9%; and Monroe, only 48.9%.

Digging deeper into the numbers, here is a sampling of how some of our local communities are doing by percentage:

Carbon: Franklin Township, 76.3; Palmerton, 71.3; Lausanne Township, 68.7; Summit Hill, 68.6; Lehighton, 68.3; Mahoning Township, 67.9; Jim Thorpe, 62.4; Nesquehoning, 60.4; Weissport, 55.1; Lansford, 54.1; East Side, 52.9; Penn Forest Township, 41.7; Beaver Meadows, 41.5; and Parryville, 39.8.

Schuylkill: West Penn Township, 75.1; Rush Township, 72; Schuylkill Township, 66.3; Tamaqua, 60.2; Coaldale, 58.9; and New Philadelphia, 57.2.

Monroe: Ross Township, 66.2; Chestnuthill Township, 62.4; Eldred Township, 61.4; and Polk Township, 57.1

Northampton: Lehigh Township, 77.2; Walnutport, 74.3; and Bethlehem, 65.8.

Lehigh: Washington Township, 79.5; Slatington 67.8; and Allentown, 59.5.

This year, every household has received an invitation to complete the Census online, by phone or by paper questionnaire. Those not responding will be contacted by follow-up Census Bureau employees.

The importance of the 2020 Census cannot be understated, because it will determine not only congressional representation for the next 10 years, but it also will be the template for determining hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding and provide important data and snapshots of what our communities look like.

Federal funding is reliant on this information in determining how scores of programs, including Medicaid, Head Start, block grants for community mental health services and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps), will receive money.

Other areas of federal funding pegged to the Census are highway construction, education and the school lunch program. Federal aid dollars coming into your community are factored through population, so every person not counted is lost dollars to your borough, township or city.

As they have in the past, lawmakers, business owners and many others will use the data collected through this decennial exercise to make critical decisions, which is why accuracy and thoroughness are so important.

Conducting and completing the U.S. Census is always a labor-intensive job, even under the best of circumstances. In the midst of a worldwide pandemic, it becomes exceptionally more difficult, which is why citizen cooperation is so important.

The U.S. Census Bureau is relying more than ever on improved technology to help in its data collection. This year’s count was embroiled last year in some political controversy over whether a citizenship question should be included.

After a nasty court fight, the question was not included. President Trump, who had favored inclusion of the question as a way to get a handle on immigration numbers, issued an executive order on July 11, 2019, directing the Commerce Department to get citizenship data from other federal agencies rather than from the Census.

The official Census has been conducted in years ending in zero since 1790, as required by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which says: “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers. … The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.”

Do your patriotic duty to not only your country but to your state, county and municipality. Submit your information NOW.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com