TAVARES — In preparation of the thousands of census forms that will flood into Lake County next month, one for each residential mailbox, local governments are doing their part to stress the importance of filling out the census form and returning it.

During this last week, several local governments agreed to promote the 2010 U.S. Census by placing a Web banner on their homepages. Those participating in the program include:

• City of Clermont, www.cityofclermontfl.com
• City of Eustis, www.eustis.org
• City of Mount Dora, www.ci.mount-dora.fl.us
• City of Tavares, www.tavares.org
• Lake County Board of County Commissioners, www.lakecountyfl.gov
• Lake County Department of Economic Growth & Redevelopment, http://egr.lakecountyfl.gov
• Lake County Health Department, www.lakechd.com
• Lake County Library System, www.mylakelibrary.org
• Lake County Property Appraiser, www.lakecopropappr.com
• Lake County Supervisor of Elections, http://elections.lakecountyfl.gov
• Lake-Sumter EMS, www.lakesumterems.org
• Lake-Sumter MPO, www.lakesumtermpo.com
• LakeXpress, www.ridelakexpress.com

The Lake County Complete Count Committee launched the 2010 Census Web page at http://census.lakecountyfl.gov to help inform citizens about the 2010 U.S. Census. The Web site includes an overview of the census process, frequently asked questions about the census and census dates to remember. A Spanish version of the Web site is available at http://census.lakecountyfl.gov/spanish.

In addition, the Web site includes a collection of Web banners that local businesses and citizens can download and place on their Web sites to help Lake County increase its response rate to the 2010 U.S. Census. The census is important because it affects funding for Lake County, and data collected in the census helps inform decision makers how the community is changing. Approximately $400 billion in federal funding is distributed to communities each year based on census data.

For more information, log on to http://census.lakecountyfl.gov or e-mail census@lakecountyfl.gov.