Cherokee County is working on getting a full and accurate account through next year's U.S. census.

Buzz Ahrens, chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, has started efforts to reach out and inform local residents.

He is announcing the campaign at local meetings and e-mailing community leaders in hopes they will "figure out opportunities to make mention" of the need for a full count.

In the 2000 U.S. Census, Cherokee returned about 70 percent of questionnaires.

"We can do a lot better this time," Ahrens said.

A full and accurate count is important for Cherokee, he said, as federal and state funding is directly tied to census data, as well as House of Representatives' seats. Businesses, academic institutions and service providers also use the census data for their business models.

Ahrens is asking city governments to post information on their Web sites, and for the Chamber of Commerce to send notices to their members. He said homeowners associations and churches also could play a role in spreading information about the census.

He said the county effort is off to an informal start, with more work to be done in the new year.

"In March or April, we will need to see what else we need to do," he said. "If response rates are dragging, we will pull together and see what we can do."

Woodstock City Manager Jeff Moon said census questionnaires will be mailed out in February and March of next year, with April 1 designated as the official "Census Day." Census workers will go out to households that do not reply to the questionnaire from May to July.

Moon said the city government is spreading information to residents on a number of fronts, such as including a flier with water bills, noting it in the city newsletter and providing information at city facilities.

"We don't want to be in a situation where we are losing representation in Washington," he said about the need for a complete census count.

The U.S. Census Bureau also is looking for job applicants to work for the 2010 Census in Cherokee.

Diana Schwartz, a media specialist for the census, said they are in the middle of a recruiting effort that will go through the end of May.

The total number of temporary census workers who will be hired in Cherokee is not yet known.

She said the bureau is hiring local people to work in the field of each community.

"We want people out in the field that are familiar and comfortable in their areas," she said, adding the bureau wants people to speak to "familiar faces."

For testing locations to become a census worker or additional information, call (866) 861-2010 or see the Web site www.2010Censusjobs.gov.