With 2010 Census questionnaires scheduled to arrive at North Carolina homes by next Wednesday, Mount Airy’s top governmental official is urging local residents to fill out and return the forms promptly.

“It’s as important as any kind of public duty,” Mayor Deborah Cochran said Thursday. “It’s like voting — you want to do your public duty. You want to do your part.”

While that is the case with each census that occurs every 10 years, Cochran said the slow economy makes this year’s head count all the more important, since it affects funding allocations to communities which are based on population data.

“The more we can get from other sources, it helps us keep our taxes and fees lower here,” the mayor said in urging a quick response by local residents.

More than $400 billion in federal funds is distributed through state, local and tribal governments to communities each year according to the number of people living in them. That money goes to schools, hospitals, transportation projects, roads, job-training programs and emergency-response tools.

Completing and sending in forms also will help taxpayers by reducing the overall cost of the census, which has been put at around $60 per person counted.

For every 1 percentage point increase in mail returns of forms, taxpayers save about $85 million in the cost of sending census takers door-to-door to retrieve population information, said William W. Hatcher, regional director for the U.S. Census Bureau.

“If the people of North Carolina complete the census form and return it quickly, then we won’t have to go out, knock on doors and collect the information,” Hatcher said.

Postage-paid envelopes are included with the questionnaires to make the process easier.

In addition to the financial considerations, census results are used to determine each state’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and to redraw state and local voting districts.

People should be counted on the basis of where they live and sleep most of the time, officials say.

Heads of households are advised not wait until an April 1 target date to return the census forms, but to do so immediately upon receipt. Census takers will begin collecting information at homes that did not return the forms on May 1. Participation in the census is required under federal law.

It takes an estimated 10 minutes to complete the census questionnaire, a safe process that ensures the information contained on forms will be protected.

Title 13 of the U.S. Code prohibits sharing personal census data with anyone, including other federal agencies and law enforcement entities. Census employees are sworn to secrecy for life and face a fine of up to $250,000 and/or five years’ imprisonment for violating the oath.

The 10-question census forms are scheduled to arrive at households throughout North Carolina next Monday through Wednesday, although Cochran said she already has received hers.

“Please fill those out and send them in,” was the mayor’s message to fellow citizens Thursday.

Help in completing the census forms is available from the toll-free Telephone Questionnaire Help Line at (866) 872-6868.