Maverick County Pct. 4 Commissioner Roberto Ruiz is advocating an effort along with other governmental agency stakeholders on why we should participate and be counted.

“It's of great importance that we are counted. These numbers are useful as they assist the government analyze the funding and services they designate by region,” said Ruiz.

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts a constitutionally mandated population count of our nation’s residents every ten years, and will begin in the month of April. Making sure that everyone is counted is of the utmost importance to the functioning of our democracy.

These population counts are used to determine how federal funds are distributed to states and how states are represented in our government.

Local, State and Federal Government officials stress the importance of being counted as in past Census counts South Texas has had some of the lowest selfresponse rates in the country.

The benefits of participating are apparent, and there is no reason to fear participating in the Census count.

For the first time ever you also have the option to fill out a Census survey online at www.census.gov. It is essential that we all participate.