Fleeing for winter? Get counted as a Minnesotan

The state is encouraging Minnesota snowbirds to stand up and be counted -- in Minnesota.

With the U.S. Census Bureau counting period coming next spring, the state demographer's office has launched an educational campaign to catch snowbirds -- people who leave the state for part of the year, usually for warmer climates -- in hopes that the hard-to-count population will fill out their U.S. Census forms at home.

The stakes are high. Current population counts have the state 3,000 people short of keeping its eight members in the U.S. House and the political clout they bring to Minnesota.

"We need to do everything we can because it's so close," said Ryan Dolan, campaign coordinator of the 2010 census in the state demographer's office.

Census numbers also help determine how much funding the state receives from the federal government for roads, health care, schools and other needs.

Ten years ago, during the most recent census, the state was not in danger of losing a representative, but neighboring Wisconsin did lose one. Dolan said it's a trend across the Northeast and Midwest of losing population to Southern states.

"Any chance there's an opportunity to lose people, we'll focus intensely on them," Dolan said, adding that his office also has been working on educating other under-represented communities, such as minorities and recent immigrants.

Information about how many Minnesotans leave the state for part of the year is not kept by the Census Bureau, AARP, AAA or the U.S. Postal Service.

Census forms will be mailed in mid-March to every address in the country. That means Minnesota snowbirds in residence in Arizona or Florida may receive them at both addresses.

The census form for 2010 instructs recipients to count "all people, including babies, who live and sleep here most of the time." For someone who splits the year between Minnesota and another location, it could come down to counting days. And regardless of where your heart is, your body should be counted in the state where you spend the most days.

If you are a Minnesotan, Dolan said, you should wait to fill out a form in Minnesota because each form you get is bar-coded for the state to which it is mailed.

$14,000 a head

Each resident who fills out a census form is responsible for bringing as much as $14,000 back to the state over 10 years out of the $400 billion the federal government distributes based on census numbers, Dolan said. Forms filed elsewhere will send those resources there.

Census reporting has no bearing on state income taxes; if a person lives long enough in Minnesota to be counted here, he or she already will meet the threshold for paying state income taxes -- 183 days. For voting purposes, Minnesota requires proof of residence for the previous 20 days.

Federal law prohibits the Census Bureau from sharing personal information gathered by the census with private entities or even with other government agencies. The bureau can share statistical data, but nothing that can be tracked to an individual or an address. Dennis Johnson, director of the U.S. Census Bureau in Kansas City, Kan., which handles Minnesota, said that if people thought their names might go into a mailing list database or that they might be tracked down for an old parking fine, some wouldn't participate.

"So we have to stand by that very strongly," he said. "The courts and legal system uphold this and have upheld that consistently over the decades. It's a very good thing that happens, or counts would be meaningless."

When it comes down to it, though, Johnson said, answering the census comes down to a code of honor. "When we get those responses in, we accept what's there," he said.

Jeanette Metz of Mound has spent part of the past several winters traveling between state parks in Florida and Texas.

This year, she and her husband expect to spend more than five months in a house they purchased in Florida, returning to Mound in April. But Metz said that she's a Minnesotan.

Still, she said she hadn't thought about the implications of where she fills out her questionnaire. But she noted that March is a bad time to try to catch senior citizens in Minnesota.

"It's going to distort my age group," she said. "By the end of October, many people will have already left."

Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409