Don't Ignore The Census: Bolingbrook Village Officials

BOLINGBROOK, IL — At Tuesday night's village board meeting, Mayor Roger Claar and members of the village Board of Trustees urged Bolingbrook residents to participate in the 2020 census in April. The census, which is organized by the federal government every ten years, helps determine how much federal resources the village will get over the next decade. The more people live in a town, the more resources that town receives.

"It's imperative that you take this seriously," Trustee Robert Jaskiewicz said. "It's going to impact the dollars that come into our town for the next ten years."

To encourage resident participation in the census, Claar announced that a number of informational census posters would be put up around the village, particularly in public gathering places.

"This is something we're going to be putting around town as necessary," Claar said. "2020 Census, Bolingbrook counts; we need to count everybody in town."

Claar also addressed concerns residents may have about the federal government learning about their private information, such as their income or immigration status. He said that no such information would be part of the census process; that only demographic, statistical information would be passed along.

"Now some people are concerned about giving out information... [the federal government] cannot collect any information other than counting," Claar said. "It... does not go to any immigration people, it does not go to any police... we don't use it for our own code enforcement, we just need the headcount."

To learn more about the 2020 census, visit the U.S. Census Bureau's website.