Census Bureau Says It's Not Too Late to Mail Back 2010 Census Forms

Release date: Wednesday, April 07, 2010

As the officially designated Census Day of April 1st has passed, the Village of Hanover Park will continue to develop its awareness campaign to encourage residents to participate in the 2010 Census. Although it is above the national response rate of 54 percent, the Village of Hanover Park’s rate of participation in the Census of 58 percent demonstrates the need to emphasize the importance in completing and mailing back the Census formulary.

The Census Bureau will continue to accept 2010 Census questionnaires by mail through mid-April. Beginning May 1, census workers will begin going door-to-door to households that failed to mail back their forms -- a massive operation that costs taxpayers an average of $57 per household versus the 42 cents it takes to get a response back by mail.

Census Bureau Director Robert Groves notes, "For those who have not yet had a chance to send it back, I'd like to reiterate that it's not too late to participate and doing so will save a lot of taxpayer money." To that effect, the Village of Hanover Park has partnered with the Hanover Park Park District on coordinating a March to the Mailbox initiative to take place during the Park District’s Foundation Day Celebration on April 10, 2010. Residents are encouraged to bring their Census formularies to the event to have them mailed. Residents may also obtain a Census formulary from Village Hall at 2121 W. Lake St. Hanover Park, Illinois.

The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Census data is used to apportion congressional seats to states, to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds to tribal, state and local governments each year and to make decisions about what community services to provide. The 2010 Census form is one of the shortest in U.S. history, consisting of 10 questions, taking about 10 minutes to complete. Strict confidentiality laws protect the respondents and the information they provide.

The Census Bureau is urging communities nationwide to take charge of their 2010 Census mail participation rates. Anyone can visit the 2010 Census Web site to see how well their state, county or neighborhood is participating in the census. From the same interactive rate map, anyone can also embed a Participation Rate Tracker "widget" on their Web site that will display an area's latest participation rates.