Iowa State students will soon be asked to participate in a special census conducted by the city of Ames.

Pam Reinig, a public relations officer for the city, spoke on behalf of the project at Wednesday night’s Government of the Student Body meeting.

The special census will begin Wednesday and will be taken over a four-week period. Seventy trained census workers will begin a door-to-door count of all Ames residents in hopes of showing that Ames’ population is over 50,000, including students.

Bob Kindred, assistant city manager, said the 1990 national census showed Ames’ population was 47,198.

Kindred believes the population has risen enough in the last five years as a result of expanded city limits, 1,100 new housing units and an under-representation of the Iowa State community in the last census to make Ames an entitlement community.

Reining said entitlement communities are cities with a population of more than 50,000. These cities are automatically entitled to certain state and federal funds which otherwise have to be competed for between smaller communities.

The state and federal funds, which could add up to about an additional $1 million a year for Ames, would be used for new bike paths, affordable housing and street improvements, Kindred said.

The special census, which will cost the city $150,000, will be targeted at the ISU population, Reinig said. Students need to be residents for the next three to four months to qualify for the census.

Even if the 50,000 goal is not met, the state government will pay $65 for every citizen over the 1990 National Census mark, Kindred said.

Although the census is voluntary, residents are asked to give their name, their date of birth, the names and birth dates of any persons living with them, marital status and ethnic origin. The information will also determine demographic statistics for the city, Reinig said.

“Be assured that the information you give a census worker will not, actually cannot by federal law, be shared with any person or government agency,” Reinig said. “Nor can it be shared with the university, the city or any private citizen, like a landlord.”

The penalty for revealing such information, she said, is a $7,500 fine and five years in federal prison.

“We can’t tell landlords if you are over occupancy in your apartments. We can’t give your address to bill collectors; this information is strictly confidential and is not shared with anyone,” Kindred said.

Reinig said the city wants to stress the importance of the census because of the benefits it will bring to the community.

“We can’t stress enough how important this census could be for the entire community. All residents in Ames stand to benefit from it, whether through affordable housing, better roads or more bike paths,” Kindred said.