Title
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 34 OF THE DULUTH CITY CODE BY ADDING SECTION 34-44 REQUIRING ACCESS TO MULTI-UNIT HOUSING STRUCTURES BY UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU EMPLOYEES.
Body
CITY PROPOSAL:
The city of Duluth does ordain:
Section 1. That Chapter 34 of the Duluth City Code is hereby amended by adding Section 34-44 as follows:
34-44.1. Access to multi-unit housing structures by United States Census Bureau employees: Declaration; Purpose.
(a) The United States Constitution directs a decennial census count of all persons living in the United States.
(b) Complete, accurate census data is of critical importance to all residents of Duluth for equal political representation, fair distribution of federal and state funding, and sound planning and investment in infrastructure, real estate, business development, and public policy and programming.
(c) During the decennial census, the United States Census Bureau conducts Non-Response Follow-up Operations (NRFU), when employees of the United States Census Bureau visit households that have not yet submitted a census form.
(d) Renters and others who live in multi-unit housing structures have historically been at higher risk of being undercounted in the decennial census, with the number of renter households in an area being the most influential variable affecting an area's census self-response rate; in other words, the more renters in an area, the lower the self-response rate of that area.
(e) The risk of an undercount is compounded in areas with high concentrations of communities that have been consistently undercounted in the past and who are more likely to be renters, including low income households, communities of color, Native American/American Indian communities, immigrants and refugees, and young people.
(f) About 40 percent of Duluth's households live in rental units, compared to 28 percent of Minnesotans; Duluth household...
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