CENSUS 2010: Income data mandatory if requested

Will Jones
April 1, 2010

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's office is conceding that Virginians must provide household-income information if requested by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Cuccinelli's director of communication, Brian Gottstein, said he erred last week in stating that residents legally could refuse to provide "basic financial information, such as salary range, . . . if they do not feel comfortable giving out that information."

The 2010 census, which is under way with today marking national Census Day, does not include a question about household income.

However, such information is requested by the agency's American Community Survey, which is conducted with a sample of about 250,000 U.S. households per month. The survey asks for information on income, labor force, education, housing values, poverty, occupations, industries, tenure, commuting and health insurance, said Tammie McGee, a Virginia spokeswoman for the Census Bureau.

Both the decennial census and the American Community Survey carry the "same confidentiality and same obligation by law to complete the form," she said.

For a story published Sunday by the Richmond Times-Dispatch about privacy concerns with the census, Gottstein released a statement on behalf of Cuccinelli encouraging residents to participate in the 2010 census.

The statement added that census workers "might ask for basic financial information, such as salary range, but participants are legally allowed to refuse to answer these questions if they do not feel comfortable giving out that information."

However, after being contacted this week by McGee, Gottstein acknowledged the mistake and said in an e-mail that he forwarded information from another state's attorney general without verifying it with the Census Bureau.

Gottstein would not identify the attorney general's office that provided the incorrect information. He said the Virginia attorney general's office has not focused on census-participation issues but has been interested in helping people protect their identities from imposter census workers.

Anyone who fails to provide information requested by the Census Bureau could be fined as much as $5,000, McGee said. She said she was not aware of anyone being charged in 2000 and that the agency gets compliance by explaining how the information is used to benefit communities.

The decennial census is used to reapportion seats in the House of Representatives and to disburse billions of dollars in federal aid.

In light of the attorney general's statement last week, census officials are emphasizing that their workers never will ask for Social Security, credit-card or bank-account numbers, or donations.

The workers will carry hard plastic identification badges but, contrary to the attorney general's statement, the workers will not have hand-held devices, McGee said. Census workers used devices equipped with a global positioning system last year to map addresses before forms were mailed.

The Census Bureau is encouraging households to complete and return their 2010 forms with information that's accurate as of today -- Census Day.

As of yesterday, 57 percent of households in Virginia and 52 percent of households nationally had returned their forms. That compared with final mail-in participation rates of 73 percent for Virginia and 72 percent for the U.S. in 2000.

"You have until about mid-April," McGee said. "After that time, you'll be put on a list for follow-up," meaning a census worker may come to your home to help complete your form.

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