HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVTCensus taker Lisa Duncan at Mountain Falls. HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVTCensus takers will wear official badges like this one worn by Lisa Duncan. Advertisement

It's still a year before the 2010 census, but already 60 census workers have fanned out across southern Nye County in an attempt to verify addresses.

But in a sneak preview of some of the thorny situations census takers could face in Pahrump, the address verification led to a few surprised property owners, including an incident where a gun was pulled.

"This is just one of the main operations that we have, and its very important to double check all these addresses so people will receive their questionnaires in 2010," said Oscar Reconco, spokesman for the U.S. Census Bureau in Pahrump.

"They're just driving by, checking the address outside, making sure the address is correct. They are using hand-held computers for the first time," Reconco said. "They will do the entry of the address and check that later with their master files."

The operation began April 6 and is expected to last about 12 weeks.

The Census Bureau will verify 145 million addresses nationwide using 140,000 census workers. The actual census will be conducted April 1, 2010.

There are 1,300 census takers employed in Nevada, which should swell to 4,000 next year when the real count takes place, according to David Byerman, chief government liaison in Nevada for the U.S. Census Bureau.

Census takers are using hand-held computers equipped with Global Positioning Systems. That's seen as reducing the number of geographic coding errors.

"The primary goal of the census is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right places," Tom Mesenbourg, acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau said in a written statement. "Because the census is used for reapportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the distribution of more than $300 billion in federal dollars every year to state and local governments, it's essential to get this first step right."

Tony Longo, local Census Bureau supervisor, said crews don't normally have to knock on doors to verify addresses unless they have a question over additional living quarters on the property.

Longo said a couple of census workers reported dog bites. There was a scary incident at one residence, he said.

"One group was standing in the street at a house on an acre lot and it was tree-lined. He was just trying to verify if there was another unit in the back and the lady sprung out of the trees with a .45 and then her son came behind her with a shotgun," Longo said. "They were really cool once he explained who he was."

Census workers are hired on a temporary basis, usually for 60 days at a time. They are paid anywhere from $13 to $18 per hour, Byerman said.

"We do see this as a stimulus for local economies," Byerman said.

The composition of the census workers is different this year, he said. Many are using the job to make ends meet in trying economic times.

"It's going to be pretty ongoing. There's going to be people out in the field for one thing or other constantly over the next year," Longo said.

Reconco said another Census Bureau project is forming a complete count committee. He said it's important this committee consist of people who reflect the community, like community leaders, church officials, people who provide services to the homeless who need to be counted.

"They are key because they know our community, so they know what are the needs in our community. By having them be part of a complete count committee, it becomes part of an inclusive process. It becomes very successful at the end," Reconco said.

Nevada had the best improvement of any state in the nation in responding to the Census from 1990 to 2000. The undercount of Nevada's population decreased from 2.3 percent in 1990 to 1.68 percent in 2000, according to an independent analysis by the accounting firm of Price Waterhouse Coopers.

Yet local officials were still claiming the census figure of 24,631 Pahrump residents was too low when results were released in 2001.

"We found out for every man, woman and child we miss in this process, we miss $917 in federal funding per year," Byerman said.