The Boundary and Annexation Survey is authorized by Section 6 of Title 13 of the United States Code Census. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approves the survey materials. The current valid OMB control number is: OMB No. 0607-0151; approval expires on 07-31-2010. The BAS is a voluntary survey.
The BAS information is used to provide an appropriate record for reporting the results of the decennial and economic censuses, and annual surveys such as the Population Estimates Program and the American Community Survey.
In compliance with the Office of Management and Budget, Circular A-16, the BAS supports the spatial data steward responsibilities of the Geospatial One-Stop and the National Map by updating the inventory of and boundaries for governmental units.
Will my government be surveyed?
The Census Bureau surveys all federally recognized American Indian areas, governmental counties (and equivalent areas), incorporated municipalities, and governmental minor civil divisions (MCDs). This survey includes approximately 40,000 entities and is conducted every year to provide the geographic support needed for the American Community Survey. The number of entities included in the BAS in a particular year may vary after 2010 depending on funding and the needs of the Census Bureau in fulfilling the requirements for its censuses and surveys.
As part of our geographic partnership program, the Census Bureau has entered into several agreements with state and county governments. These agreements most commonly modify the list of entitites invited to participate in the survey, where knowledge of local areas identifies only those governments known to have boundary changes. The states (or state equivalents), that have an agreement with the Census Bureau are Alaska, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Puerto Rico, and Wisconsin. For a list of county agreements, please email geo.bas@census.gov.
When will I receive the survey?
BAS packages were mailed in December 2008 and January 2009. If you have not received a BAS package, please call 1-800-972-5651 to request a BAS package.
All governmental unit types should return their responses by March 1st in order to have their updates reflected in next year's data from the American Community Survey and Population Estimates Program.
What if I have no boundary changes to report?
If your entity does not have any changes to report for this BAS cycle, you may notify the Census Bureau by e-mailing GEO.BAS@census.gov, phoning 1-800-972-5651, or returning the paper No Change Postcard that was included in your BAS package. If you choose to notify the Census Bureau via e-mail, please type “no boundary changes” in the subject heading and provide the following contact information for your Highest Elected Official and the BAS contact:
There are various ways to respond to the BAS. The Response Methods page provides further information.
Can a county report for entities within its boundaries?
The Census Bureau includes counties in the BAS so that you may report any changes to your county boundary, as well as, review the BAS form for the functional status of governments within your county. County reviewers are not required to report boundary changes for the jurisdictions within their county.
If you are interested in reporting changes for the entities within your county, the Census Bureau also offers consolidation agreements. At the county level, a county government can provide updates for their county boundary, as well as for entities within the county that agree to the consolidation. Counties participating in a consolidation agreement are required to obtain the permission of the entities for which they will report. (If your state has legislation in place requiring governments to report boundary changes to the county, then we ask only that you provide us this documentation.). The Census Bureau will not mail the affected entities a BAS package next year or any subsequent year after an agreement has been completed.
How do I report a new incorporation?
If you are a newly incorporated place and would like to participate in the BAS, please contact GEO.BAS@census.gov. In order to participate in the BAS, the Census Bureau will need:
What happened to Advance Response?
In past years, the Census Bureau has sent an Advance Response (AR) letter and form to entities asking whether or not they had boundary changes and would like to receive BAS materials. Since all entities received 2009 BAS materials, AR letters were not sent to participants in conjunction with the 2009 BAS. All federally recognized American Indian areas, governmental counties (and equivalent areas), incorporated municipalities, and governmental Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs) will be surveyed again in 2010. The AR program will resume prior to the 2011 BAS.
Comments? Questions? GEO.BAS@census.gov
denotes a file in Adobe’s Portable Document Format.
To view the file, you will need the
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
available free from Adobe.
