IN SUPPORT OF THE CENSUS OF GOVERNMENT

WHEREAS, the Census Bureau conducts three censuses:  the Decennial Census, the Economic Census, and the Census of Governments,

WHEREAS, the Census of Governments is a complete census of all state and local governments, which includes organizational data (characteristics & number of governments); employment data (number of employees & payroll); and finance data (revenues, expenditures, debt, assets and pensions),

WHEREAS, the Census of Governments is the only source of comprehensive uniform statistics on state and local governments,

WHEREAS, the Census of Governments data are used to calculate the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the Bureau of Economic Statistics and to calculate the U.S. Flow of Funds by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,

WHEREAS, the Census of Governments has been conducted since the 1840 Decennial Census where it collected data on the number and types of schools and pupils and has since expanded to gather information on state and local government infrastructure and finance,

WHEREAS, the Census of Governments and its predecessors comprise the Census Bureau’s oldest continuous data collection program that directly focuses on the Nation’s local governments,

WHEREAS, there are about 90,000 governments in the United States that fall under six types of governments:  states, counties, cities, townships, independent schools districts, and special districts,

WHEREAS, the Census of Government is conducted every five years, for years ending in "2" and “7”,

WHEREAS, the Census of Government is voluntary in nature.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the U.S. Conference of Mayors encourages every city to participate in the Census of Governments;

FINALLY, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the data collected by the Census of Governments are critical to measuring the nation’s economy (GDP) and understanding the current fiscal condition of state and local governments.