Census to Cost Less Than Anticipated

[X_Digger]

Source: NY Times

The Census Bureau said Tuesday that its 2010 count would cost about $1.6 billion less than budgeted. This would work out to about 11 percent less than the $14.7 billion appropriated over 12 years for the decennial count or 22 percent less than the budget for this year.

“The savings occurred primarily because contingency funding set aside for disasters or major operational failures was not tapped,” bureau officials said, “and because the census questionnaire mail-back response rate and workforce productivity across field operations both beat expectations.”

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said “with proficient management, the cooperation of the American public and a little bit of luck, the census stayed on track with significant cost savings to taxpayers.”

One reason: the census enumerators who conducted follow-up interviews, knocking on the doors of those who did not return the mailed questionnaire, were better educated and more experienced than expected — presumably because the recession had expanded the hiring pool.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/us/politics/11census.html

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Looks like people didn't listen to the whack-a-doodle's who urged people to not participate. Mail-in participation was better than in the last census, as well as door-to-door participation.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Oh, good. Now we can afford the down payment

on another useless military aircraft or something.

[DimplesinMI]

2. Can the Temporary Enumerators get a bonus?

I was one. They stated (they being the Census) that we would be called back in July '10 for follow up operations. Instead, we got a termination letter. Still unemployed, I could use a bonus for all the work I did to provide an accurate Census.

[rfranklin]

3. Oh no, a government project coming in under budget!

That can't possibly be...they are not efficient like Halliburton and Kellog Brown & Root! :sarcasm:

[Bill McBlueState]

4. It still cost $13.1 billion.

If the dumbass Republicans would let the Census bureau use statistical sampling, it would be way cheaper. But the Party of Buy Now, Pay Never had its say on that. Statistical sampling would pick up too many brown people.