Next Week, Census Workers Will Be Going Door-To-Door

Collecting census forms by going door-to-door can be stressful.

“You tend to call on people who don’t want to fill it out to begin with,” said Todd Morris, manager of the Spokane census office.

“Some people don’t always present a polite response.”

One way or another, the Census Bureau will count everyone.

Beginning next week, at least 108,000 households that haven’t been heard from will be contacted by census workers in 11 Eastern Washington counties. That accounts for roughly 35 percent of all households in the area. The census takers will continue knocking on doors through June 30.

Home visits could cost up to $35 each, according to national estimates. That adds up to almost $4 million for the Spokane census office, Morris said.

“This is a great time to save us some very hefty tax dollars,” he said. It’s not too late to return your form. “I think people equate nonresponse with not being counted. It just means it’s more expensive to count them.”

Some people did not receive forms through no fault of their own. Residents of Hunters, Wash., for example, did not receive forms because of a mailing error, Morris said.

Frank Thale, 76, a retired Air Force captain who lives in Airway Heights, said he was wondering when he’d get a census form. It never came.

“It makes me feel like they left me out,” Thale said. And that’s OK. “Just so they don’t forget the paycheck,” he said. He plans to call the census office soon.

If you haven’t received a form, call the local office of the U.S. Census Bureau. An official will take your name and address and ask you a few questions. You will most likely be told to wait for a worker to come knocking on your door sometime between next week and June 30.

If you have a form but it has been damaged or torn (maybe the dog ate it), there’s hope.

Look for the bar code numbers that are included on each form. Then call the toll-free Census Bureau number included on the form, which is 1-800-471-9424. You may be able to fill it out by phone.

If you received the short form, you may be able to fill it out on the Internet by visiting the census site at www.census.gov. Then click the link, “Form Help.” It will walk you through steps of filing a census form online.

“Better late than never,” Morris said. “It will still be updated.”

This sidebar appeared with the story:

FORMS

If you haven’t received a census form, call the local office of the U.S. Census Bureau. In Spokane the number is (509) 353-2300. In North Idaho, it’s (208) 743-3675.