OK, Island County: Time to stand up and be counted again.

The 2010 census, the latest tabulation of the United States population, is rolling into high gear.

“You name it, it’s being done,” said Michael Bakker of Oak Harbor, whose task is to get the word out on the census. “There’s a lot going on.”

The U.S. Constitution requires a population count be taken every 10 years.

Bakker, a representative of the U.S. Census Bureau, is busy these days meeting with community groups and the media up and down the island to convince people to take part in the coming count in a timely fashion.

He’s especially eager to get people to mail in their questionnaires, thereby saving a lot of taxpayer money.

Bakker said that for every 1 percent of the population that the feds have to track down door-to-door or on the phone, it costs more than $80 million dollars.

“We want to get everybody counted,” he said. “That’s why we’re out here now.”

The Census attempts to count every person in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.

Bakker said that this time around, Census forms will be mailed in February to every household. Officials hope all will be returned by the end of March.

April 1 has been designated Census Day, when information collection ends and tabulation begins in earnest.

In July, Census-takers will visit households that failed to respond by mail.

Results are due at the White House by the end of the year, and redistricting information must be delivered to the states by March 2011.

Bakker said participation in the Census is easy, safe and important, especially regarding the distribution of federal money.

He said the questions being asked in 2010, and the few minutes it takes to answer them, make it “the shortest Census since George Washington did it.”

All the government wants to know is the number of people in your household, a phone number, the name of each person who resides with you, their relationship to you, their genders, ages and dates of birth, and their race or ethnicity.

It also wants to know if you rent or own your home.

In 2000, the last Census taken, only one in six households received a long form which they were asked to fill out and return.

Of those mailed in Island County, only 59 percent of households responded through the mail, compared to 66 percent in Washington state and 67 percent nationally, Bakker said.

This year a short form is being mailed to every household, and the goal is a 100-percent return, he said.

Bakker stressed that information collected by the Census is strictly confidential for 72 years, and is shared with no one else, not even other government agencies.

He said all Census workers are sworn to secrecy for life under a penalty of five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

The Census is important because it determines the distribution of more than $400 billion to states, counties and communities. Over 10 years, that’s $4 trillion in government funding for such things as roads, hospitals, schools, jobs and language and health services.

The count also determines the number of legislators allocated to the state and national houses of representatives.

“If the count goes up, we could gain a legislator; if it goes down, we could lose a legislator,” Bakker said.

In the 2000 census, Island County’s population was put at 71,558, compared to the statewide total of 5,894,143.

In 2000, the number of Island County households was determined to be 27,784, with 2.52 persons per household.

Based on those numbers, the Island County population in 2008 was estimated to be 81,424, an increase of 13.8 percent, compared to a statewide forecast of 6,549,224, an 11.1-percent increase.

In those eight years, the increase in the number of persons 65 and older was estimated to be 20.8 percent, compared to 12 percent statewide.

In 2000, 18 Census Bureau enumerators went door-to-door in Island County. Bakker said the bureau is hiring Census-takers for next year, but hopes that not nearly as many will be required.

He said all candidates must complete an exam.

Bakker stressed that Census-takers must wear official identification badges and are not allowed inside households. They are not permitted to call to verify addresses or other personal information, he added.

He warned that various scams are already popping up around the 2010 Census.

For example, he said residents should beware of telephone callers saying that for $15 they’ll fill out Census mail-in questionnaires, and asking for credit-card information.

“Those kinds of people are out there,” Bakker said.

For more information, contact the Seattle office of the Census Bureau at 425-318-1434, visit the bureau’s Web site www.census.gov/2010census, or e-mail Bakker at michaelbakker@wildblue.net.