Tomorrow, April 1, is National Census Day and the City of Knoxville encourages its residents who haven’t responded yet to fill out their 2010 Census questionnaires and drop them in the mail. 

The simple form contains just 10 questions and takes just 10 minutes to complete but by filling it out Knoxville residents can make a difference in the future of the city. That’s because Knoxville, and Knox County, annually receive millions of dollars in federal funding based on population. 

The city also receives some state funding based on its population. Those are your tax dollars and an accurate count ensures that these funds continue to support worthy efforts here in Knoxville.

The results of the Census also helps determine the number of seats each state has in the United States House of Representatives and Census date is used to help redraw local election districts within each state. 

As of Wednesday 51 percent of Knoxville’s households had returned the Census forms received in the mail earlier this month according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That trails the national participation rate of 60 percent and is also slightly behind the rate in Tennessee, where about 52 percent of the households have returned the questionnaires. 

Roughly 134 million residences across the nation received Census forms in March. 

A count of all persons living in the United States every 10 years is mandated by the United States Constitution and the first Census was conducted in 1790. 

The population of the United States that year was 3.9 million – less than Tennessee’s population today.