Newsroom Archive

With time running out for America to mail back their 2010 Census forms, U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves will urge Texans to mail back their questionnaires during a news conference with the North Central Texas Council of Governments in Arlington, Texas. Dallas (58 percent), Arlington (62 percent) and Fort Worth (63 percent) each have mail participation rates below the 67 percent national rate as of April 14.

The Census Bureau launched its official countdown to mail back census forms Saturday with thousands of volunteers in more than 6,000 neighborhoods participating in “March to the Mailbox” parades, marches, walks, rallies and motorcades — hoping to remind people that it's not too late to mail back their forms and be counted.

To avoid having to send a census taker to go door-to-door beginning May 1, the Census Bureau asks households to return their forms on or before April 16. It costs the government just 42 cents to receive a questionnaire back in the mail but costs taxpayers an average of $57 if a census taker has to go out to a house to collect the same information. If every household mailed back their census form, taxpayers could reduce the cost of the census and save $1.5 billion.

Thursday, April 15, 4 p.m. (CDT)

Robert M. Groves, director, U.S. Census Bureau
Pauline Medrano, deputy mayor pro tem, City of Dallas
Danny Scarth, deputy mayor pro tem, City of Fort Worth
Maher Maso, mayor, City of Frisco
Robert Rivera, councilman, City of Arlington
Sid Sexton, mayor, City of Seagoville
David L. Green, mayor, City of Duncanville

North Central Texas Council of Governments
616 Six Flags Drive
Arlington, TX