SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Ten questions will be critical in determining government funding in the Lake Tahoe Basin for the next ten years.

The census, a once a decade count of the American population, is ramping up and causing a flurry of encouragement from regional officials to participate in what, in part, amounts to a state-by-state competition for cash.

The constitutionally-mandated data collection is used to apportion U.S. Congressional seats and will guide the distribution of $400 billion in federal funding to states annually, according to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.

South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County officials had difficulty estimating the amount of federal funding money that could be at stake for the region based on census results, but said the outcome will guide funding for everything from schools to streets.

“Certainly there are funds — both federal and state — that we get on a per capita basis that are based on our population,” said South Lake Tahoe City Manger David Jinkens. “It is very important that we get an accurate count. The clearer picture the federal government has of our community the better they are potentially able to help us.”

South Shore residents should receive a census form in the mail between by March 17. Census takers will follow up with households that did not return the questionnaire by April 1 between mid-April and July, Le said.

Each census form returned amounts to $917 per year in federal money for Nevada, which helps pay for critical community developments like hospitals, schools, infrastructure and emergency services, said Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller.

“It's hard to overstate the importance of the census to the state of Nevada,” Miller said.

Tahoe basin challenges

But the Lake Tahoe Basin does present some unique challenges to census takers.

Young people at Lake Tahoe who have never taken a census before and the basin's immigrant population present two of the biggest challenges facing census takers, said Sonny Le, spokesman for the U.S. Census Bureau's Seattle Region office.

“The census is a foreign concept, it's a challenge to get them to participate,” Le said.

Illegal immigrants are often hesitant to participate in census counts because of fear the information will lead to arrest or deportation, Le said.

Le, Miller and Jinkens each emphasized the information gathered during the census is confidential and won't be given to law enforcement or immigration officials.

The state of the economy could also be detrimental to an accurate count.

“We do expect some challenges with this particular census,” Miller said. “Because of the foreclosure crisis, we're going to be mailing to households where there may no longer be anyone there or in temporary housing.”

Census workers have been scouting locations frequented by the homeless for the past three months so they know where to look when the homeless population is counted during three days next month, Le said.

While Lake Tahoe's large second homeowner population would seemingly present challenges to an accurate count, Le was confident the census bureau's database of addresses and cross-checking of duplicate forms would get the most accurate count possible.