U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division Programs Presentation to the Indiana Government Geospatial Coordinator Forum September 20, 2012
Overview Boundary and Annexation Survey Consolidated BAS Agreements BAS State Certification GSSi Partnership Program
Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS)
What is the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS)? A voluntary survey of local, county, and tribal governments Conducted annually to collect information about legal geographic areas Primary source of information for: –Legal boundaries and boundary changes –Names, functional statuses, and types of governments –New governments –Dissolved governments –higher-level geographic relationships e.g. a place annexes into a new county 4
Why do we conduct the BAS? Ensure that population and housing counts are assigned to the correct geography in all Census Bureau products. Support the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-16 –Collecting and maintain boundaries for legal areas –Geo.data.gov –The National Map ( Present statistics for various censuses and surveys: –American Community Survey (ACS) –Population Estimates Program –Economic Census –Decennial Census Programs 5
Available to states that mandate local governments to report boundary updates to the state government. Under this agreement, states report to the BAS by: –Submitting all boundary updates in the state, OR –Submitting a list of entities that had boundary updates. State participation improves the BAS process in the following ways: –Reduces duplication of effort in collecting information –Reduces the burden on local governments –Improves the completeness of the boundary data collected in a given year 6 BAS State Agreements
The county government responds to the BAS for governmental units within their jurisdiction. Under this agreement, the county reports to the BAS by: –Establishing an agreement with entities whereby the county shall respond to the BAS for the undersigned entities. County agreement does not require every entity to sign on County participation improves the BAS process by: –Reducing the burden on local governments –Minimizing mailout; only the County BAS contact receives materials. –Improving the completeness of the reported boundary data 7 BAS County Agreements
A program for state governments to review information that local governments reported to the previous BAS: –Legal boundary changes (annexations & deannexations) –Functional status of governments –Legal names of governmental units. The current State Cert reports information collected during the previous BAS year: –Ex: 2012 State Cert reports information collected during the 2011 BAS. 8 BAS State Certification Program (State Cert)
Ensure that legal boundary changes and government status changes reported to the BAS are legal. –implemented in accordance with applicable State Laws Maintain the accuracy and completeness of boundary information: –The Census Bureau is responsible for collecting and maintaining correct Legal Boundary information –Make sure Census Bureau MTDB matches State record Verify the attribute information submitted to BAS is correct: –Ordinance Number –Effective Date 9 Why do we conduct State Cert?
The extent of State Cert varies depending on the State Laws for incorporations/disincorporations and boundary changes: –State Statutes –Constitution –or State Code Some states have strong state laws requiring local governments to report to the state government: –The state contact has the authority to request the Census Bureau to edit or delete BAS information In states that do not have such provisions, the Census Bureau will not edit or delete BAS information without confirmation with the local government. 10 State Laws and State Cert
In strong law states, the state contact may notify the Census Bureau of any missing or illegal boundary changes: –The local entity is sent a discrepancy letter describing the issue For boundary changes missing from the Census file: –The entity may simply report the missing boundary change to the BAS For boundary changes flagged as invalid by the state: –The entity is responsible for resolving the discrepancy with the proper state authority. –After resolving the issue, the entity may submit the valid boundary change to the BAS. 11 Missing Annexations and Reversals
12 Important Dates and Deadlines Date(s)Description DecemberAdvance Response Letters and Forms mailed to the BAS Contacts December - April BAS Materials mailed to the BAS Contacts January 1Boundary Changes (annexations and detachments) reported to the current BAS must be in effect on or before this date. April 15Last day for participants to request BAS materials to be shipped by mail. March 1First Deadline: Changes received by this date will be included in the upcoming Population Estimates Program and ACS. Boundary updates will be depicted on the next release of BAS maps. May 31Final Deadline: Changes received by this date will be depicted on the next release of BAS maps
BAS Website
Geographic Support System Initiative (GSS-I) Partnership Program
Key Components of the GSS-I An integrated program that utilizes a partnership program for: – Improved address coverage – Continual address and spatial feature updates – Enhanced quality assessment and measurement Address Updates 123 Testdata Road Anytown, CA Lat 37 degrees, 9.6 minutes N Lon 119 degrees, 45.1 minutes W Street/Feature Updates Quality Measurement
The GSS-I Partnership Program Recognize local governments as the definitive authority for quality geospatial data within their communities Provide a repeatable opportunity for partners to exchange geospatial data with the Census Bureau leading up to 2020 Provide simple tools that allow data transfers with partners through web-based technology and service- oriented architecture
How will the Program work? Request address, housing unit structure, and street feature data for purposes of updating the MAF/TIGER System Reach out to national & state organizations, commercial partners, and federal agencies as other potential sources of this quality data Apply quality checks to determine if partner-provided data meet our minimum requirements
What Kind of Address Data? City-style addresses and/or Non city-style addresses (i.e., Rural Route #) that ‘ideally’ meet: 1.USPS minimum delivery requirements, and 2.the ‘FGDC Address Standard’ (U.S. Thoroughfare, Landmark, and Postal Address Data Standard) See the Census Bureau Address Data Content Guidelines:
What Kind of Housing Unit Structure Data? Latitude/Longitude Coordinates for a Housing Unit structure or access point (i.e., from E-911 or Next-Gen E- 911 database) Structure centroids Latitude/Longitude Coordinates for a real property parcel or parcel centroid Other points used by partner? Again, see the Census Bureau Address Data Content Guidelines:
What Kind of Street Feature Data? Street centerline geometry Street attributes – names, address ranges, etc. Why? Expand Census centerline and attribute coverage Spatially-correct misaligned streets in conjunction with high-quality imagery Feature Data and Metadata Content Guidelines
Planned Schedule for FY13-14 October 2012 – Kick-off program with data from limited partners TBD) February 2013 – Start providing feedback March 2013 – Identify supplemental FY13 partners based on quality audit of MAF/TIGER data – Make “Community TIGER” available for beta testing October 2013 – Planning for open participation
GSS-I Web Site See the GSS-I internet site at the following URL:
Questions? Monica Smith U.S. Census Bureau