News
Census Form Mix-up No Cause For Concern, FH Administrator Says
By Ryan Fennell
FAIR HAVEN - A significant percentage of Fair Haven residents have received 2010 Census forms that are labeled with incorrect house numbers and street addresses.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau this mix-up is no cause for alarm and in most cases is not a mix-up at all.
Fair Haven residents who have received Census forms labeled for Red Bank, are advised to manually correct the mistake, fill out the form, and put it in the mail, Fair Haven Borough Administrator Mary Howell said at Monday night's council meeting.
For those who have received census forms labeled with the incorrect house number or street address, Howell said, residents should not fill out the form, write "Wrong Address" on the envelope and mail it back.
"There's a reason why there are two different answers," said Monica Davis, media specialist with the Philadelphia Regional Census Center.
Monmouth County lies within the Philadelphia region.
"The name of the town is irrelevant because what's more important is the geo-codes, or bar codes, that are near the address because that's the information that the census needs."
According to Davis, in the spring of 2009, the census bureau canvassed the entire country by going door to door plotting geo-codes for each and every address in the United States.
Information includes which school district or congressional district a residence falls in, which can change from one street to the next or even one home to the next.
"When the town is incorrect, because if the postal service had to change Fair Haven to Red Bank it was to suit their postal needs. It won't affect what we already embedded in the bar code," Davis said.
"If the house number or street is wrong then it is indeed an incorrect address and it was delivered to the incorrect household."
Davis said in the latter case to send the form back blank and write "Wrong Address" on the envelope. Residents can call the census bureau directly to receive the correct form or a census worker will follow up shortly.
However, if a resident that received a form with the wrong address and has already filled out the form and mailed it back, a census worker will also be following up shortly.
"We would not want one household to fill out the form for another household because it's geo-coded for the wrong address," Davis said.
In the case of a wrong address having been filled out and already returned, Davis said it would be recognizable as incorrect because the geo-codes would identify that the census bureau received two forms for the same household and none for another.
"I can understand why it may cause alarm because if you live in Fair Haven and get a Red Bank form you think I don't want what's supposed to go to Fair Haven be diverted to Red Bank but that, luckily, is not affected."
