Millions Wasted Preparing for 2010 Census

The AP released information from a forthcoming audit of the Census Bureau detailing wasteful spending during the preparations for the 2010 census.

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson

The Associated Press released information from a forthcoming audit of the Census Bureau today detailing wasteful spending during the preparation for 2010 census. The article stated that “[f]ederal investigators caution the excessive charges could multiply once the $14 billion headcount begins in earnest next month unless the agency imposes tighter spending controls.”

From the AP article:

While the project finished ahead of schedule, Census director Robert Groves in October acknowledged the costs had ballooned $88 million higher than the original estimate of $356 million, an overrun of 25 percent. He cited faulty assumptions in the bureau’s cost estimates.

Among the waste found by investigators:
–More than 10,000 census employees were paid over $300 apiece to attend training for the massive address-canvassing effort, but they quit or were otherwise let go before they could perform any work. Cost: $3 million.
–Another 5,000 employees collected $300 for the same training, and then worked a single day or less. Cost $1.5 million.
–Twenty-three temporary census employees were paid for car mileage costs at 55 cents a mile, even though the number of miles they reported driving per hour exceeded the total number of hours they actually worked.
–Another 581 employees who spent the majority of their time driving instead of conducting field work also received full mileage reimbursements, which investigators called questionable.

Census regional offices that had mileage costs exceeding their planned budgets included Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Kansas City and Seattle.

Faulty assumptions in the bureau’s cost estimates? Sounds like another example of “phony price tags” described by one of our “must-read” articles from Reason. The 2010 census is already expected to be “the most expensive census in the nation’s history, even after adjusting for inflation,” and now there has been millions in waste before the census even begins. What are the chances the Census Bureau will actually heed the advice of the federal investigators to rein in spending?

To read the full article from the AP, click here. If you’d like to read about wasteful spending in Illinois, check out our recently released 2010 Illinois Piglet Book.