Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

---

Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

Friday, February 25, 2000

Census takers
won’t share
your answers

Question: I read that one in six homes will get the long-form U.S. census survey with questions pertaining to my income, property value, etc. What do we write down if we wish not to answer these questions? Even if they keep saying all answers are confidential, we know it's not. What do we do if we don't want to answer these questions in writing or in person?

Answer: Title 12 of the U.S. Code "requires that you furnish the information requested, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census."

There is no provision for you to say you do not wish to answer any question.

Bob Asato, manager of the Honolulu office of the Census Bureau, says he hopes everyone fills out the survey as a form of "civic responsibility."

The answers provided help communities obtain federal funding for hospitals, roads, schools and services for the elderly.

Still, confidentiality obviously continues to be a major concern, as reflected in the Census Bureau's preprinted answers to privacy issues, as follows:

By law, it cannot share your answers with the IRS, FBI, welfare, immigration or any other government agency. No court nor the president of the United States can find out your answers. The bureau cannot sell or give away your address to people who want to send you mail.

Census workers (enumerators) are sworn to secrecy. If they give out any information they see on a form, they face a $5,000 fine and five years in prison.

The information provided is protected with numerous security measures, including electronic barriers, scrambling devices and dedicated lines. Your answers are combined with others to produce statistical summaries that are then published. No one can connect your answers with your name and address.

The bureau says it "has an unbroken record of protecting the public's privacy."

This year's census forms will be mailed in mid-March, Asato said. If they are not returned by April 1, census takers will go into the community to collect the forms.

That will begin around April 11 and continue for about four to six weeks, he said.

In Hawaii, it's projected that about 2,000 census takers will be hired this year to retrieve those forms.

Q: What is the law regarding employers mailing W-2 forms? Is there a number I can call to complain?

A: The deadline is Jan. 31.

The IRS advises that you first make contact with your former employer and request a W-2 form. If you've already done that with no success, the IRS will help, said spokeswoman Shawn George.

Call 1-800-829-1040 and select the first option, which deals with missing W-2s and 1099s. You will be asked to provide the name and address of your former employer, including ZIP code; dates of employment; and the approximate amount of wages received and approximate amount of taxes withheld.

"The IRS will contact the employer and, if necessary, help the employee file his return without the W-2," George said.

Mahalo

To Susan, who helped us near Hanauma Bay on Feb. 6. She took me to the gas station and back, gave us her container of anti-freeze and would not take payment for it. We definitely believe there is a guardian angel for all of us and Susan was ours. Your kindness will always be remembered. -- G.W. & T.G.O.

---

Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com