The Complete Count Committee for Camden County is getting ready for the 2010 census. 

    The group held its first formal meeting yesterday, gathering together a variety of parties interested in improving the local count.  In 2000, Camden County had a 39% mail back response rate, the lowest in the state. 

    Roger Corbin is the village planner in Sunrise Beach and a member of the complete count committee.  He says the ideas flowed yesterday on how to get people to respond to the mailers which hit mailboxes in March of 2010. 

    "Well, the school districts are going to work very hard at getting projects to work directly with individual students to take items home to remind parents of the census, for example backpacks," Corbin said.

    Outside of schools there are some other ideas. 

    "We have a number of groups that want to come up with t-shirts that say complete count on the census and those will be passed out. There's a variety of ideas. The school districts are going to give us a lot of good information. Especially the Climax Springs schools, they are way out in front right now."

    The two main areas of concern for the local committee are the snowbirds and low and moderate income households.  Snowbirds need to remember that you count yourself where you spend 51% or more of the year. 

    Corbin says the people represented on the group may help with the low to moderate income issue.

    "We have all the major school districts in Camden County represented. We have the business community represented with the chamber and other people who are business types. We had a large not-for-profit contingency turn out today and they are going to work to reach those groups, the low and moderate income people."   

    For every person missed in the counts it is estimated that 1.3 million dollars is lost over a ten year period. 

    If the state of Missouri does not increase its count by 60,000 people, the state could stand to lose a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.