Area census form return rates
By percent returned:
Springboro 61
Centerville 62
Beavercreek 59
Kettering 60
Oakwood 47
Huber Heights 59
Dayton 41
Englewood 61
Bellbrook 60
Waynesville 51
Lebanon 57
Fairborn 49
Miamisburg 61
Fairborn 49
Xenia 57
Dayton, Oakwood and Fairborn lag behind Ohio and the nation as a whole in filling out and returning the forms the U.S. Census Bureau mailed out last month.
Today, April 1, is the informal deadline to mail in the forms, which the Census Bureau says should not take more than 10 or so minutes to complete.
The information requested on the forms helps determine such things as how much federal funding an area receives, how many seats a state holds in the U.S. House of Representatives, and how much money certain school districts receive from the government.
As of Tuesday, 41 percent of Dayton households sent in their forms, well below the Ohio rate of 51 percent and the national rate of 50 percent, said Michael Gregorio, public information officer at the U.S. Census Bureau.
Still, Dayton’s return rate exceeded those in Cincinnati (39 percent) and Cleveland (32 percent).
Oakwood’s return rate was 47 percent, while Fairborn’s was 49 percent. The return rates for other local municipalities ranged from 62 percent in Centerville to 51 percent in Waynesville.
Failing to send the forms costs taxpayers money. Census bureau workers must visit each household that does not return the form at an average cost of $57 each.
For every 1 percent increase in participation, the government saves an average of $80 million to $90 million, Gregorio said.
Census workers will begin visiting residents who don’t mail in their forms within the next few weeks.
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