Local officials are making sure everyone gets counted in this year's census.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, Glen Cove Mayor Tim Tenke and state Sen. Jim Gaughran held a census drive for residents to fill out the census and report that they live in the city.

Officials say Glen Cove is traditionally under-reported, with a little more than 60% of residents reporting they live here.

"If Glen Cove is undercounted, that means we're going to have less money for our public schools, less money for our police, for everything," Gaughran says.

Suozzi adds, "We need people to fill out the census form, it's so important, it determines how much money we get from the federal government, how much money we get from the state, the county. A lot of things are population-based, and if your population is not properly recorded, you get left behind."

When someone came to sign up for the census, they gave their name, age, home address and how many people are in their family. The whole process was about 10 minutes.

Mayor Tim Tenke says the information residents give out only goes toward marking that they live there and is used for nothing else.

"People feel that the information will be used to deport them or something along those lines, but that is simply not the case," Tenke says.

The deadline for the 2020 census is Sept. 30.

Residents who couldn't make it to the census drive can still complete it online.