What’s the $64,000 question?

It’s this: How much did Allegany County lose in government funding for each head of a household with a spouse and three children who didn’t fill out the 2000 census questionnaire?

Considering that our county’s final response rate was only 66 percent, that amounts to a lot of money — money we could use during these times of financial difficulty that affects local government as well as private citizens.

Allegany County received $93 million in federal funding during the 2007 fiscal year. It went to services ranging from public health and education to highway planning and public transportation.

Local officials who are getting ready for the 2010 count said there are reasons people don’t respond to the census questionnaires, which will start arriving in the mail next April.

One is that some people, especially senior citizens, don’t like the idea confiding their personal information to unsolicited documents, particularly when they come from the government. Other than the U.S. Census Bureau, no other government or outside agency or any individual can gain access to respondents’ information for 72 years.

In any case, we ask that you complete and return your questionnaire. The funding that it will produce probably will affect the services you receive from local government.