Today Marks Deadline for Submitting U.S. Census Form
April 1, 2010
April Fool!!!
While today has been designated as "Census Day" by the U.S. Census Bureau, April 1 is not a mandatory deadline for submitting forms, but is more of a promotional day designed to remind American residents to fill in and mail back their forms.
It should be noted, however, that under federal law, any American resident over the age of 18 who refuses or willfully neglects to answer the Census questions can be fined "not more than "$100." Anyone who submits false information can be subject to a fine of "not more than $500."
The U.S. Census Bureau mailed and hand delivered almost 134 million 2010 Census questionnaires to households in March. As of March 31, the bureau reported that just over half of those households receiving the forms had mailed them in to the bureau. Every household that fails to return a Census form will have to be visited by a census enumerator at an estimated taxpayer expense of $57 for each household visited. The bureau estimates that if every household across the nation were to mail back its completed form, taxpayers could reduce the cost of administering the Census by about $1.5 billion.
