Genoa Township trustee Gerry Cotter wants Genoa residents to look for the new U.S. Census forms, coming in March.

Cotter, who sits on both the state and county census committees, is adamant that people be aware of the need for an accurate census count, which is conducted every 10 years.

Township assistant administrator Joe Clase agreed.

"The census will be very important for Genoa Township and other high-growth areas, because census information helps determine locations for schools, roads, hospitals, child-care and senior citizen centers, and more," he said.

Businesses use census data to determine where to put supermarkets, shopping centers, new housing and other facilities, he said. The census also determines how many seats each jurisdiction should have in state and federal government.

Communities also use census data to determine their financial health and the future of important social service programs, he said.

"I think that it's really important, particularly in Delaware County," Cotter said.

The township's current projected population count from the Delaware Regional Planning Commission is 22,059 residents as of the end of 2009, Clase said. In the last census, conducted in the year 2000, the township had a population of 11,293.

If residents do not receive a census form at the end of March, they should find one and fill it out, she said. The forms have 10 questions and take only a few minutes to complete. They will be available in local government offices and libraries.

The Delaware County auditor's office recently identified about 10,000 new addresses in the county for which the federal Census Bureau had no record, Cotter said.

"It behooves the county to make sure they have the correct addresses, because we've had so much growth," she said.

That error includes 1,503 new addresses in Genoa Township, which represents about 4,100 people, Cotter said.

"We're thankful that the county auditor's office was able to correct that information with the census because it would affect our overall population count. Over 4,000 people in our township is a huge difference," she said.