Report census information by phone

AUSTIN (KXAN) - U.S. Census officials have created a hotline that allows people to report their census information by phone.

As of April 14, only 63 percent of all Austin residents are believed to have completed and returned their Census forms.

"You're breathing here and you're taking up space here and you're using resources here, you should be counted," said Travis County Precinct One Constable Bruce Elfant.

Elfant said each person represents $15,000 in federal money for the county over the next 10 years.

"It's hard to do so many things without federal assistance and we want to make sure we get every dollar that we're entitled to," Elfant said.

Helpline operators will ask the same 10 questions that are on the Census form mailed to residences. Completing the questions by phone takes approximately 10 minutes.

"It's very easy, and it's the law," Elfant said.

The helpline phone number is 1-866-872-6868.

Census officials are still encouraging people who received a Census form in the mail to return it because that data will be counted more quickly than what is gathered over the phone. The phone reporting is for people who did not receive the form or will not return it.