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Local census funding hits a snag

Feb 20, 2020 1:00 am
Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Greene County lawmakers discussed recent changes to the eligibility requirements for state census funding that would make counties unqualified to work directly on the U.S. Census. Under legislation proposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo $30 million would have been locally deployed to improve census accuracy, and in December, the Greene County Legislature agreed to apply for $87,000 of that funding. At the same time, the county was authorized to conduct an awareness campaign. Under the recent changes, approved nonprofits are required to apply through the county for the funds and the county would then make the application for the grant on the organization's behalf. If the funding is approved, the county would then distribute the funds to the nonprofit. “As of today, the list of nonprofits has not come out,” Deputy Greene County Administrator Warren Hart said. The deadline for the application is March 2. Libraries are automatically pre-approved, Cairo Library Director Debra Kamecke said. She urged legislators to find a way to obtain the funding. “We need to get a message to them why it’s important for everybody to be counted,” Kamecke said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.