Census Bureau Director and Houston Mayor Urge Residents to Fill Out Census Forms

April 16 is Last Day to Mail Back Questionnaires

WASHINGTON, April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)  

What: With time running out for America to mail back their 2010 Census forms, U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves will urge Texans to mail back their questionnaires during a news conference with Houston Mayor Annise D. Parker. Houston's mail participation rate is at 58 percent as of April 14, which is below the 67 percent national rate.

The Census Bureau launched its official countdown to mail back census forms Saturday with thousands of volunteers in more than 6,000 neighborhoods participating in "March to the Mailbox" parades, marches, walks, rallies and motorcades  -- hoping to remind people that it's not too late to mail back their forms and be counted.

To avoid having to send a census taker to go door to door beginning May 1, the Census Bureau asks households to return their forms on or before April 16.  It costs the government just 42 cents to receive a questionnaire back in the mail but costs taxpayers an average of $57 if a census taker has to go out to a house to collect the same information.  If every household mailed back their census form, taxpayers could reduce the cost of the census and save $1.5 billion.  

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau