Thursday, April 20, 2000 | 11:49 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Nevada is still below the national average in sending in census forms, but it is doing better than it did 10 years ago.
And there was a vast improvement in the response from the minority neighborhoods near downtown Las Vegas.
The U.S. Census Bureau, in its final report on mail-in figures, said Wednesday the return in Nevada reached 63 percent, one percent below the national average but higher than the 61 percent from 10 years ago.
"I'm really happy about the numbers," said Dave Byermann, the coordinator for the census effort in Nevada. "Compared to 1990, we had the third-best improvement in the nation."
He said two other states each posted a 3 percent hike in their response rate and Nevada was up 2 percent.
Secretary of State Dean Heller, who was the state coordinator, said he learned from the Census Bureau that some of the most difficult areas in Las Vegas in which to get responses are already ahead of the final numbers in 1990.
These were mostly in minority neighborhoods. He said he has talked with Hispanic and urban leaders who feel the television commercials and the effort this time "have been well accepted."
Nevada ranks 29th in the nation and ninth among the 13 Western states. The highest response rate to the mail in questionnaires was 73 percent in Iowa and the lowest at 54 percent was in Alaska.
Byermann said the initial phase of the census won't conclude for another two weeks because workers are going to homes in Summerlin, some parts of North Las Vegas and the north valleys of Washoe County. These were considered rural areas which didn't receive mail-in forms. personal visits are now under way.
Beginning April 29 workers will start in the core of Las Vegas visiting the homes that did not respond or who did not get a census form because they may have a post office box. And on May 1, other workers will start knocking on doors in the rest of the state.
About 4,000 workers were hired by the Census Bureau in Nevada. Byermann hopes to have the count work completed by June or July.
"We still have 37 percent and we know we have our work cut out for us."
The "biggest success story," Byermann said, is Mesquite, which posted a 45 percent response rate in 1990 and rose to 58 percent this year.
The federal government set the goal this year for Mesquite at a 50 percent return rate.
In Northern Nevada, residents in Sparks mailed in their forms at a 71 percent clip, compared to 62 percent in 1990.
Byermann said Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt singled out Reno as one of the few major cities to exceed the initial goal. Reno posted a 65 percent return rate, compared to the 63 percent goal set by the federal government.
The bureau reported the response rate for Clark County was 62 percent with a goal of 65 percent. Las Vegas residents returned their forms at 62 percent against the targeted 66 percent.
Henderson and North Las Vegas achieved the national target. Henderson, which has become the second-largest city in Nevada, responded at 68 percent, and North Las Vegas achieved 60 percent. Boulder City residents hit 71 percent compared to an 80 percent federal target.
Elko County, which has been a hotbed of anti-government sentiment lately, registered a 64 percent return -- way above the 59 percent goal of the Census Bureau.
Byermann said the approach used was "not a bunch of bureaucrats from Washington."
"This is folks from Elko County conducting the census," he said.
Carson City posted the highest return -- 72 percent with a goal of 76 percent. The lowest was in Eureka County at 44 percent.
Heller said the $788,400 allocated by the Legislative Interim Finance Committee to promote the census "made a significant difference."
"Clearly there is a longer road in front of us, but we're better off as we go through the rest of the process."
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