Not too late to mail in your Census form

If you haven’t returned your completed 2010 Census questionnaire, it’s not too late.

Unlike Tax Day or Election Day, Census Day is not an absolute deadline. Rather, April 1 is the reference point for the once-a-decade “snapshot of America.”

So far, about 54 percent of American households have returned their census form. Washington State lags slightly behind at 52 percent.

The Census Bureau wants households to mail back their questionnaires as soon as possible to save the federal government and taxpayers money.

Starting May 1, Census takers will go door-to-door to those households that have not returned a form by the third week of April.

It costs the government the price of a postage stamp when a household mails back the 10-question form, which should take 10 minutes to complete.

But it costs the Census Bureau $57 to follow up with a non-responsive household. In 2000, the nation reversed a three-decade decline in mail rates, achieving a mail-participation rate of 72 percent.

Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the census takes place every 10 years. Census data determine boundaries for state and local legislative and congressional districts.

More than $400 billion in federal funds are distributed annually based on census data to pay for local programs and services, such as schools, highways, vocational training, emergency services, hospitals, unemployment benefits and much more.

Questionnaires are available in six different languages: English, Spanish, simplified Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian. In addition, the Census Bureau has language-assistance guides in 59 languages. Learn more about the 2010 Census at www.2010.census.gov.