Preparations are already underway for the upcoming 2010 Census. As required by our Constitution, a U.S. Census (a count of every person living in the United States) is conducted every ten years throughout the country and its territories. Every household in the U.S., regardless of age, ethnicity or citizenship, will be asked to complete a simple, 10-question form.
By law, the U.S. Census Bureau must protect all information that identifies individual respondents and their households for a period of 72 years, and information specific to respondents cannot be shared with any form of law enforcement, including groups like the IRS, Welfare, FBI and Immigration.
Your response to the 2010 Census will help yield an accurate count of all persons living in our community. An accurate count is important to the community, because it:
• helps determine what percentage of more than $300 billion in federal funding is awarded to our state and community;
• is used in community planning efforts, such as locating new roads, hospitals and schools; and
• helps determine how many seats Wisconsin will have in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Starting this spring, census employees nationwide will begin going door-to-door in order to update the address list that will be used to mail or deliver census questionnaires in early spring next year.