The return rate this week for Census forms in Summit County was below the national participation rate. But the county was on track to beat its participation in the 2000 U.S. Census.

The participation rate in Summit County on Thursday was about 44 percent, which was 20 points below the statewide rate. The municipality in Summit County with the greatest participation was Henefer, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Henefer’s return rate on Thursday was 72 percent, eight points higher than the state rate of 64 percent, according to 2010census.gov.

“Participating in the Census is something that ought to be done because it gives you an idea of not only population, but it gives you the opportunity to have proper representation back at Congress,” Henefer Mayor Randy Ovard said.

Census numbers are used to determine how many seats Utah should have in the U.S. House of Representatives, he stressed.

Residents who fill out the forms could also help their communities receive funding for new projects, he said.

“For any grant we ever go for one of the first questions asked is, what is your population and what is your need?” Ovard said.

The Census participation rate nationwide was about 64 percent this week. But participation in Oakley and Kamas hovered around 30 percent. Those two cities had the lowest return rates in Summit County.

“We’ve had some posters up and we’ve tried to encourage people to participate,” Kamas Mayor Lew Marchant said. “I guess Census workers have got some work to do.”

Federal and state governments dole out some tax dollars based on the Census count, Marchant said.

“On top of that, we would just like to have an accurate count so we know where we’re at,” he said.

In Park City, the participation rate was 49 percent. Many Parkites said they have not received Census forms because the paperwork is not being sent to their post office boxes.

“I kept hearing all this stuff about return rates on the Census and it kind of dawned on us that we had never gotten our forms,” Parkite Steve Joyce said. “A lot of people may not realize that they have been left out of this.”

Census forms are labeled with bar codes, which tie the forms to physical addresses.

“They do not go into a P.O. box. It is not sent to the name of the person. We’re trying to find out who lives in that home,” Census worker Glenn Biddulph said. “So if half of the town does have rural delivery but the other half doesn’t, half may not get their forms.”

Census enumerators will visit households where surveys were not returned.

“If they didn’t get one, sit tight and wait for somebody to show up at your door. We are going to go to every home,” said Biddulph. “Anybody who doesn’t mail one in, we are going to their home. We’ll have the survey there for them to fill out.”

But Park City residents who leave town this spring might not get counted, Joyce lamented.

“A lot of people have post office boxes in town and I know a lot of people who pack up and head off for weeks or months at a time in the spring. Even though this is their primary residence and they should be counted, there is no way in the world they’ll be around for the next couple months,” Joyce said. “I’m just waiting and hoping that at some point somebody is going to come by the house and in some way make it easy for us to get counted.”

“For Summit County, this is pretty much our headcount for the next 10 years. So it seems fairly important that we all get counted,” he added.

Coalville resident Joslin Blonquist said she has a post office box in the North Summit area and also has not received her Census form.

“I never got one and I thought it was just me,” Blonquist said. “I’ll just wait for them to come and count me.”

Meanwhile, Census workers will accept the surveys in the mail for much of April

“If they can get them into us before the third week in April then we probably won’t knock on their door,” Biddulph said. “It’s very cost effective for us for people to mail them in.”

Expect to see Census workers knocking on doors in Summit County in May.

“Be nice to the enumerator when they come,” Biddulph said. “They’re not going to be asking any questions that are invasive or anything like that. It’s really a very simple 10 questions. I filled mine out and it took me about 10 minutes.”

“It is something that everybody can fill in and everybody can send back without any fear of anything.”