Mon, Mar 10, 2008 (2:05 a.m.)

Government auditors told Congress last week that the accuracy of the 2010 census could be in peril because the U.S. Census Bureau has not corrected some long-standing problems and has eliminated some of its precensus work.

Officials from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday that of particular concern is the Census Bureau’s intention to equip census-takers with hand-held devices for managing and verifying information.

These devices were obtained through a $596 million contract that, because of delays and cost overruns, now stands at $624 million. What’s more, auditors say, the devices gave “slow and inconsistent data transmissions” during census “dress rehearsals” last year.

In addition, GAO auditors say the Census Bureau has failed to plan for how it intends to monitor and assess the performance of these devices and doesn’t have a clear idea of how much it is going to cost to make the necessary revisions. Rough estimates, the GAO says, run from $600 million to $2 billion.

The GAO went so far as to add the U.S. Census to its “High Risk” list, which is a list of federal programs or areas that need reforms to prevent waste, fraud and mismanagement. The GAO was not set to update the list until 2009. However, the continuing problems with the Census Bureau’s 2010 plan prompted the GAO to note the inadequacies sooner to give the Census Bureau time to make improvements.

The U.S. Census, taken every 10 years, affects all areas of government work, from the assignment of congressional seats and setting of policy priorities to the distribution of billions of dollars in federal funding for government programs.

Even when it works at its best, the U.S. Census can hardly keep up with the population trends that affect fast-growing areas such as Nevada. But the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department, which oversees the bureau, should take some serious action to make improvements to ensure the outcome of the 2010 census is accurate.