An efficient census - Reset 2010 Charting a new path for the state and nation

The Seattle Times
August 19, 2010

IMAGINE a government entity that didn't spend all the money allocated for a project. Kudos to the U.S. Census Bureau, which advertised, coaxed and cajoled enough Americans to respond to the 2010 questionnaire to prompt a savings of at least $1.6 billion.

This year's tally was the most expensive in U.S. history but the cost of collecting the census has increased every decade since 1950, largely because of the substantial increase in population and difficulty of reaching certain populations.

Still, it is extremely good news that a better-educated census work force — a lot of highly qualified people are out of regular jobs — and a powerful advertising campaign reached a lot of people. And they responded at a rate that allowed the bureau to spend less on pricey, labor-intensive follow-up required when the return rate is weaker.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Census Bureau Director Robert Groves credit the American people for a 72 percent response rate, similar to the 2000 count.

High marks also to 565,000 temporary workers hired to do interviews at millions of households that didn't return forms promptly. The work force was more highly skilled than in previous years and these workers offered efficiencies of their own.

This year, the census sent a second questionnaire to areas with low response rates and participation improved. Targeted advertising in selected media markets also boosted returns.

"What we are really proud of is we have introduced our own version of POG (priorities of government budgeting) in the Commerce Department," Locke said in an interview Wednesday.

In the future, the secretary would like to see the census use the broad capacity of the Internet to reach more people more efficiently, and that is obviously where some parts of future counts are headed.

The census is key to understanding the country, who we are, how we live and ultimately what kind of services our communities need.

The $1.6 billion saved should be returned to the government to pay down the deficit.