MAKING IT COUNT

City leaders don't want a repeat of the disputed 2000 census count, which showed a drop in population, so they're working to ensure everyone gets counted this year.

In a city where the official count was less than 700, City Clerk Barbara Sessa said the U.S. Census Bureau overlooked hundreds of residents during the 2000 census and that the mistake cost San Antonio taxpayers thousands of dollars. That's because everything from federal grant money to sales tax revenue is based on population.

"The majority of our residents receive their mail at (post office) boxes," Sessa said. "The Census Bureau won't send census forms to a P.O. box."

The 2010 decennial census - the constitutionally mandated population count that dates to 1790 - effectively begins this week, with the 10-question census forms scheduled to be mailed to 120 million households. Census workers will follow up next month with door-to-door visits to households that don't send back the forms.

City leaders are hoping the census gets it right this time.

The 2000 census count concluded San Antonio's population had dropped to 655 - down from 776 in 1990. At the time, then-mayor Roy Pierce said the population was closer to 900. The U.S. Census Bureau counted 286 housing units in the city, but Sessa said the city had 336 residential water customers.

City leaders challenged the count, providing detailed records from Tampa Electric Co. and the Pasco County property appraiser's office. Sessa even contacted each water customer to find out how many people lived in their homes.

"If I couldn't get them on the phone, I knocked on the door," Sessa said. "I was just so passionate about finding out how badly we were undercounted."

It didn't make much of a difference. The Census Bureau adjusted its count by 13 housing units and added 29 people to the population count. In 2008, though, the Census Bureau showed that the population had swelled to 1,065 - a 63 percent increase.

The 2008 count is an estimate, but this year's decennial census is the one that will be used to determine federal funding, political representation and other important considerations. So the city is doing what it can to ensure an accurate count.

Sessa stuffed notices about the census in this month's water bills, and volunteers will be stationed outside the San Antonio Post Office to encourage residents to request forms.

"We can't hand them out," Sessa said. "They have to walk across the street to City Hall and request a form."

Any city resident who requests a form at City Hall will be eligible for a gift.

The city also is allowing the Census Bureau to use City Hall as an official help center, where a census worker will be stationed during the count.

Despite such efforts, Pierce, the former mayor, still worries about the 2010 census results.

"I think they're just as likely to make the same mistake again," he said.

Census officials say they are aware of the city's concerns and will take the latest population estimate into account to make sure this year's head count is accurate. But the onus will be on city residents who don't receive forms in the mail to make sure they get counted.

Today, the city has about 470 homes, but only about 40 percent of residents get home mail delivery, Sessa said.

"When the post office first came here, there was no mail delivery to anybody," Pierce said. "Eventually, they changed the laws and you could request home delivery. But most people just got used to going to the post office."