Posted 04/26/10

On May 1st, census takers will begin door-to-door visits to Moline households to complete the count of our residents. The census taker will have a list of all households that did not return a completed census form by April 20. He or she will visit those addresses and record the answers to the questions on the form.

The City of Moline is providing the following information as a guide to residents. If a census taker visits you, here's what you should do:

• Cooperate with the census taker and be counted. Census takers are NOT out-of-town workers but rather Moline residents who live in the neighborhood where they are collecting information.

• Ask to see their identification. All census workers will carry official government badges marked with just their name; they may also have a "U.S. Census Bureau" bag.

• Know that the census taker will never ask to enter your home; all questions may be answered from your doorstep.

• If you're not certain about their identity, you may call the Chicago Regional Census Center at (312)-454-2700 to confirm they are employed by the Census Bureau.

• Answer the questions for your household (you must be at least 15 years old) so that the census taker can record the results. There are only 10 questions on the 2010 Census form, the shortest form in history, and it will take less than 10 minutes for most households to complete.

• If you are not home during the census taker’s visit, he or she will return to your home multiple times, each time leaving a door hanger with a phone number for you to call to schedule a follow-up visit.

• If a resident doesn’t speak English, Census takers will have a flashcard containing a sentence about the 2010 Census written in approximately 50 languages. The census taker will show the flashcard to the resident, and the resident can point to the language he or she speaks. A census crew Leader will then reassign the household to a person who speaks that language.

All answers are protected. Moline residents, both citizens and non-citizens, are urged to respond to the census without fear or worry. The census taker is sworn for life to protect your data under Federal Law Title 13. Those who violate the oath face criminal penalties, including substantial fines and imprisonment. Your answers are not released to any other government entity, not the IRS, not the CIA or FBI, not INS, not even the President of the United States.

Results from the census are used to distribute Federal funding for local roads, public safety, hospitals, schools, senior centers, housing programs, and many other critical services that Moline residents rely upon on a daily basis. These funds are distributed based on population and other information collected during the census, which only occurs every 10 years. Your answers to the census are extremely important to the Moline community.

“At this time only 78% of Moline households have responded to Census 2010 by returning their census forms. Roughly 10,000 residents remain to be counted,” said Mayor Don Welvaert. “Moline is at risk of being underrepresented and losing over one hundred million dollars in federal funding over the next decade. This is funding our community needs and rightfully deserves.”

Mayor Welvaert encourages all residents to do their part by responding to Census 2010. “Encourage your family, friends and neighbors to do the same. It’s 10 questions, 10 minutes, for the next 10 years, ” said Mayor Welvaert.

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