According to the Bureau, several factors were behind the  escalating costs of the 2010 Census, such as the need to hire  about 585,000 temporary field staff to count the more than 46- million households that did not mail back their census forms,  and substantial investments in updating the Bureau’s address  list—including address canvassing, a door-to-door effort to  verify the address list’s accuracy in 2009. 2). Opportunities Exist to Enhance the Partnership between the Bureau and USPS

		The Bureau and USPS Plan Additional Collaborative Efforts for the 2020 Census

The Bureau and USPS are engaging in efforts to enhance their  collaboration. The Bureau and USPS also plan to update their 1995  memorandum of understanding to, among other matters, reflect  routine changes that have occurred over time (e.g., update  contact information), and help ensure that both agencies benefit  from their collaborative efforts. Bureau officials explained that  under the 1995 memorandum, the agencies’ collaboration  typically benefited the Bureau more than USPS. Now both  agencies would like to improve each other’s address and  geographic information. One new effort anticipated under the  revised memorandum of understanding would provide USPS  with the Bureau’s geographic data products and support, which  USPS hopes to use to improve its mail routing and other  business decisions. The revised memorandum of understanding  is expected to be approved later this year. The Bureau Could Better Leverage USPS Local Knowledge by Recruiting USPS Mail Carriers to Work Temporarily for the Census

Opportunities exist for the Bureau to take advantage of the  knowledge and experience of USPS mail carriers, including  retirees. Bureau and USPS officials agree that USPS city and  rural mail carriers are familiar with the local living conditions in  their communities and that this knowledge could help the  Bureau conduct aspects of the 2020 Census more effectively. Regarding cost, in 2010,  the average USPS mail carrier was paid about $41 (city) or $34  (rural) per hour including benefits for regular time worked,  compared to the average hourly pay of about $15 paid to  census enumerators. Reducing the Number of “Undeliverable as Addressed” Mailings Could Improve the Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness of USPS Operations

During the 2010 Census, USPS personnel were concerned about  resources spent attempting to deliver census mailings with  undeliverable addresses. In responding to a copy of our draft report the Bureau provided  a summary of preliminary reason codes for why approximately  12-million initial forms were not delivered. Thus, now that the  Bureau has compiled this information it will be important for the  Bureau to work with USPS to assess whether strategies can be  developed to reduce the number of undeliverable as addressed  mailings such as not delivering to housing units that do not have  a complete address or that do not have a mail box. The Bureau works with GSA to  identify, convert, and lease space for its local offices during the  census. USPS officials stated that ongoing efforts to downsize USPS will  probably increase availability of facility space that could be used  by the Bureau in the next census, but USPS hopes to sell these  facilities, and it is uncertain how many will be available in 2020  (and what condition those facilities would be in if they were  available). Recommendations for Executive Action

Given the importance of Bureau and USPS collaboration in  successfully executing census operations, as part of future  partnership activities, we recommend that the Postmaster  General and the Secretary of Commerce direct their agencies to  expand their collaborative efforts by:    determining if there are ways that the Bureau could work  with USPS to target recruitment opportunities to mail  carriers, and    assessing whether strategies can be developed to reduce the  number of undeliverable as addressed mailings. The Bureau in its  comments was silent on whether it agreed with the  recommendation to target recruitment opportunities to mail  carriers, however, in a subsequent discussion stated that it did  agree with that first recommendation. The Bureau believes much of the undeliverable as addressed  operational and waste-disposal costs for USPS and additional  postage fees for the Bureau were both anticipated and  unavoidable.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Census Bureau (Bureau) and U.S. Postal Service (USPS) collaborated on aspects of the 2010 Census and prior decennials, and those efforts generally went well in such areas as address list development. But both agencies face challenges: the Bureau needs to control the escalating cost of the decennial census and maintain its accuracy, while USPS must improve its financial condition. As requested, GAO examined opportunities to enhance collaboration in such areas as technology, personnel, and facilities that could improve the cost-effectiveness of the 2020 Census and generate revenue for USPS. GAO analyzed Bureau and USPS data and documents, compared the agencies' existing collaborative efforts with prior GAO work, and interviewed agency officials.

What GAO Found

The Bureau and USPS are expanding collaborative efforts for the 2020 Census. The collaborative efforts include a new Bureau initiative to continuously update its master address list using USPS and local address information. This could allow the Bureau to limit the size of field operations needed to develop an accurate and complete address list for the 2020 Census. The Bureau and USPS also plan to update their 1995 memorandum of understanding to, among other matters, help ensure that both agencies benefit from their collaborative efforts. Bureau officials explained that under the 1995 memorandum, the agencies' collaboration typically benefited the Bureau more than USPS. Now both agencies would like to improve each other's address and geographic information. One new effort anticipated under the revised memorandum of understanding would provide USPS with the Bureau's geographic data products and support, which USPS hopes to use to improve its mail routing and other business decisions. The revised memorandum of understanding is expected to be approved later this year. Additional opportunities exist for the Bureau to take advantage of the knowledge and experience of USPS mail carriers, including retirees. Bureau and USPS officials agree that USPS mail carriers are familiar with their communities, so hiring mail carriers as temporary census workers could allow the Bureau to, among other things, develop a more accurate address list for the 2020 Census. However, using mail carriers to conduct census field operations at USPS pay rates would not be cost-effective. In 2010, USPS mail carriers cost on average about $41 (city) or $34 (rural) per hour compared to about $15 per hour for census enumerators. In the 2010 Census, about 19-million forms could not be delivered--also known as undeliverable as addressed mailings. The Bureau, in its comments to a copy of this draft report, provided a summary of reasons for why forms were not delivered. These reasons include the house was vacant or there was no mail box. Thus, now that the Bureau has compiled this information, it will be important for the Bureau to work with USPS to assess strategies to reduce the number of undeliverable as addressed mailings, as undelivered mail results in additional operational and waste-disposal costs for USPS and additional postage fees for the Bureau. The Bureau works with the General Services Administration to lease space for its local offices during the census. For the 2010 Census, the Bureau leased two USPS locations for a total cost of $330,000. While USPS officials stated that ongoing efforts to downsize the USPS could increase the availability of facility space that could be used by the Bureau in the next census, USPS hopes to sell these facilities, and it is uncertain how many will be available in 2020 (and what condition those facilities would be in if they were available).

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends the Secretary of Commerce and USPS consider (1) expanding their current collaborative efforts to include recruiting mail carriers, including retirees, for the 2020 Census, and (2) assessing whether strategies can be developed to reduce the number of "undeliverable as addressed" census mailings. USPS agreed with GAO's recommendations. Commerce disagreed with the second draft recommendation concerning analyzing the reasons for undelivered mailings. GAO revised the recommendation to focus on developing a strategy to help reduce costs involved with processing undelivered mail.