On April 1, the U.S. Census Bureau presented its proposal for the subjects of the questions to be asked in the 2000 census to Congress, as required by law. The questions on the census forms are of vital importance to county governments because the responses to these questions provide the data used to determine many activities that affect the future of every county across the nation.
The U.S. Constitution mandates that the Census Bureau collect the data necessary to reapportion the House seats in Congress every 10 years. In addition, several additional subjects have been added over the years to provide a supporting database for several federal government programs or by case law requirements imposed by the U.S. federal courts.
Under financial constraints and concerns about the length of the 1990 census form, and the poor response rate, the bureau has recommended switching several questions from the short form to the long form, and the elimination of some questions completely. It is hoped that these changes will increase response rates and minimize the cost of follow-up activities.
When every household in the nation is mailed a census form on April 1, 2000, on average, one out of six households will receive the long form. However, in many rural areas, because of the sparse population, one out of every two recipients may receive the long form. The Census Bureau has proposed that the long form will contain 34 subject areas, four fewer than in 1990. The remaining households would receive the short form, which would feature seven subjects, five fewer than in 1990, making it the shortest questionnaire since 1820.
The subjects proposed for the short form are name, sex, relationship, race, Hispanic origin and whether you rent or own your home. Several questions were moved from the short form to the long form, including the value of your home, rent, rooms in dwelling and marital status.
The major difference to counties whether a question is on the short form or on the long form is the level of detail at which subsequent data will be available.
All information on the short form will provide data at the census block level, the smallest geographical level on which census data is available. Information on the long form provides data on the much larger census tract level, which is a subcounty division made up of groups of census blocks.
County governments are affected by census data on a daily basis. Every single federal dollar allocated to counties uses census data in some form. Often it is used to plug figures into entitlement formulas which directly affect funding levels.
But, at a local level, it may be used very differently. Economic development and community planning require information about how far people in the area drive to work and how well educated they are.
Businesses seeking to locate in your county will require this information to assure that they will find a viable work force if they locate in your community. School construction and its required capital budgeting requirements necessitates using projections of how many five- and 15-year-olds there will be in the county in the years 2010 and 2015.
Land-use planning and infrastructure development require information about how old the current housing is, what kind of housing is available (including the value of the housing, number of rooms, type of plumbing and house heating fuel) to plan for the controlled development of the types of housing that will be necessary and the types of infrastructure required to support them. By using information on the date of entry, residence five years ago and language spoken at home, counties can capture the growth in population, where it is coming from and how these demographic changes will affect programs and activities that will have to be incorporated into future county budgets.
The Census Bureau is looking to form partnerships with county governments, city governments, state governments and tribal governments to develop strategies for a successful census. Information about these plans will be mailed to counties soon.
(If your government would like additional information about its role in Census 2000, contact the Research Division at NACo by phone: 202/942-4285; e-mail: jbyers@naco.org.)
Counties should be vitally interested in the outcome of the year 2000 census. Not only will it get local governments off to a good start in the new millennium with data for their own local needs, but the following federal agencies will use this data to determine future funding for many programs
Subject |
Some Agencies That Use Census Data |
| Race, gender, age, industry, citizenship | DOEd, DOJ, DOL, EEOC |
| Disability, veteran status, place of birth, education, occupation | DOEd, DOJ, DOL, DOT, EPA, HHS, EEOC, DOC |
| Marital status, relationship, year of entry, tenure at current residence, language spoken at home | HHS, DOL, HUD, NSF, DOJ, USDA |
| Class of worker, value of home, labor force status, rent | HHS, DOC, DOD, DOJ, EPA, Fed Res, HUD, DOT |
| Plumbing facilities, year structure built, rooms, units in structure, residence 5 years ago | DOE, EPA, HHS, HUD, USDA, HHS, VA |
| House heating fuel, work status last year, income, vehicles available | DOE, EPA, HHS, DOJ, DOL, DOC, EPA, Fed Res, NSF, USDA |
| Bedrooms, kitchen facilities, place of work, journey to work | DOE, HHS, HUD, DOC, DOJ, EPA, Fed Res |
| Year moved into unit, Hispanic origin, farm residence, shelter costs | EPA, HHS, HUD, DOJ, EEOC, USDA, DOEd |
| Ancestry, telephone in unit, grandparents as caregivers | DOJ, DOL, EEOC, HHS, HUD |
Agency Key: