Checking the mailbox lately, you might have gotten an American Community Survey.

"It gives us an idea of sampling of what's going on in the community, every statistic you hear on the news, comes from this," said Amanda Imler, of the US Census Bureau in Lansing.

No it's not the official Census form -- and no not everyone gets it. This is a longer-form questionnaire that provides the government with answers on how communities are changing.

"The American Community Survey is an on-going thing that allows us to update our information on poverty which is really important to a lot of economic social trends," Jane Zehnder-Merrell of the Michigan League for Human Services said.

Everyone can expect the Census forms in March and officials said it's important to fill it out and mail it back as soon as you can because this vital information, determines how much money will come back to Michigan.

"There are estimates that for each person counted that equals out to $12,000 per person," Zehnder-Merrell said.

That's money that goes to education, transportation, and human services.

The past two census counts have been "undercounts" which means the state did not get what it deserved of the $300 billion federal pot.

The census also determines Michigan's representation in Congress.

"They draw the district lines and determine how many people are in the district and we are subject to lose another [representative] because we are losing population," Imler said.

Money -- power --- information -- worth ten minutes of your time?

"People need to know it's simply a number in a file," Zehnder-Merrell said. "And those numbers are hugely important in the state in terms of political power and money that can flow in to address social and economic issues."

Everyone is required by law to fill out the census information.
The information you provide will not be shared with any other governmental agency and is confidential.