Cherokee County's response to the 2010 Census has been strong, and could increase further this summer as the process wraps up.

The county's response rate to the 2010 survey so far is 77 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"As long as we are in the high 70s, we are OK," said county Board of Commissioners Chairman Buzz Ahrens, noting the bureau still is collecting information. "I would like for us to hit 80 percent."

The participation goal for the county was set at 75 percent. Ahrens has been lobbying for participation by making public announcements and working with other local leaders to promote the need for a full count.

Accurate census numbers are needed, officials said, to ensure Cherokee gets its fair share of Congressional representation and federal monies, as well as to qualify it for various grants and programs.

Door-to-door follow-up visits for households that did return their initial census questionnaire have been completed in this region, according to Dick Gormly, manager of the census office in Alpharetta. The region includes Cherokee as well as Forsyth County and north Fulton County north of the Chattahoochee River.

"There are a couple of minor operations," Gormly said about the work left to be done. "We will do some more quality control to make sure the information is correct."

The office is completing quality assurance checks now, he said, such as checking to make sure buildings reported as vacant are in fact unoccupied.

Pam Page-Bellis, a regional spokeswoman for the census, said the entire operation should be complete in the region by July 10.

"We are ahead of schedule and below budget," she said about the process.

Gormly said there was "minimal" difficulty in completing the door-to-door visits in Cherokee.

"The public has been very, very receptive," he said, noting while census enumerators were turned away from some households, there were no serious confrontations. "It is not like we had to have anyone arrested. Folks in Cherokee have been very hospitable."

Lt. Jay Baker, public information officer for the Cherokee Sheriff's Office, said the office has received just two calls related to the census. He said both cases were minor incidents.