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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: December 15, 1998 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. - <br />SUBJECT: Census Bureau Confidentiality Agreement <br />DEPARTMENT: Land Records <br />PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) <br />BUDGET AMENDMENT: (Y/N) <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Census Bureau Letter <br />Participation Registration <br />Confidentiality Agreement <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Roscoe Reeve, ext 2500 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To consider approving an agreement for the County to work with the US Census Bureau in <br />reviewing addresses in the county. <br />BACKGROUND: The US Census Bureau has expressed an interest in partnering with Orange County, <br />and presumably, other local governments across the country, to enhance the quality of the address <br />information that will be gathered during the census in the yeaz 2000. Orange County must enter into an <br />agreement not to disclose confidential address information that it receives as a result of this partnership. <br />Orange County would benefit from participation in reviewing address data from the US government by: <br />^ obtaining access to the highly accurate US Postal Service address file that will help the County <br />identify difficult or missing property addresses <br />^ checking another database that has the name of public and private streets to verify County data used <br />for emergency services <br />providing a more accurate census record of roads and other locations that will make the yeaz 2000 <br />census data more usable by County offices and citizens. (i.e., a more accurate count of population <br />because census takers were able to find a road that would not have been on their maps without County <br />help) <br />The data that the Census Bureau receives from Orange County will likely increase the quality of the <br />census process in Orange County because the Census Bureau will receive the County's highly accurate <br />centerline file of roads and streets, developed as part of the Geographic Information System (GIS). <br />Federal officials have provided assurance that federal laws pertaining to confidential information would <br />pre-empt any State or local laws governing public records. The Census Bureau address files would be <br />segregated in a data file requiring password access. This would ensure that the County can maintain the <br />