Residents hoping to avoid a knock on their door by U.S. Census Bureau officials this summer should complete their forms today.
The bureau will create a list containing the addresses of every household that has not mailed in the 10-question, government-issued form by the end of the day.
That list will then be given to census takers, who have been hired by the bureau to go to each house that has not participated.
As of Sunday, 63 percent of Alachua County residents have mailed their census forms.
The census takers will begin visiting homes May 1 and will ask the same questions that are on the form.
If nobody is home the first time a worker tries to visit, he or she will return to the house up to two more times to get the information.
The bureau, which is financed by taxpayers, funds the census takers. Households visited by census workers cost the bureau $57, a steep hike from the 42 cents the bureau pays for homes that mail their forms by today.
“We’re trying to be as efficient and cost effective as possible by urging students to get those census forms in by April 12,” Gainesville spokesman Bob Woods said.
UF students are expected to complete the form even if they are still financially supported by their parents.
Woods said UF students should complete the Census because many of them ride the city’s buses and go to local public parks.
The city's parks and buses are funded by federal dollars given to Gainesville based on Census data.
Results from the census also determine how voting districts are drawn.
“[The Census] is important for all residents in our community and particularly students, who become members of our community for at least four years and often longer than that,” Woods said.
Students who do not mail their forms and are leaving Gainesville this summer will not be visited by Census workers because the semester ends before they begin door-to-door visits.
Besides mailing their forms, residents can drop their census forms off at City Hall, the Alachua County Administration Building, the Reitz Union, Cabana Beach Apartments and all of the public libraries in Gainesville.
