Half of Iowans have sent in Census forms

Some Iowans complain they still haven’t gotten a census form, but officials say half of all Hawkeye State residents have already returned their forms. If too few respond, the state could lose one of its five seats in the U-S House, but Iowa Congressman Tom Latham isn’t worried that will happen.Census officials say 50-percent of Iowans have returned their forms, that’s ahead of the national average of 44-percent. Iowa and Minnesota tied for 2nd place in the 1990 census with 76-percent compliance. There’s continued grumbling over the nature of some questions on the long form, but Latham says people shouldn’t be concerned.Latham says people should answer all questions, even those about income, and rest assured the information will be kept private. Latham is a republican from Alexander and represents Iowa’s fifth district, which would be lost with too small a count. He says there’s a lot of money at stake with the census responses — in areas people might not have considered. He says things like airlines coming into cities involve stats gathered by the census.Census officials say 60-percent of residents in Bremer, Grundy and Mitchell counties have returned their forms, while the low is 33-percent in Dickinson County. Anyone who hasn’t gotten a census form should call 800-471-9424.