U.S. census forms list Coralville residents in Iowa City

CORALVILLE - The U.S. Census Bureau has the city of Coralville playing the little brother role to Iowa City.

Coralville residents have been receiving mailings from the Census Bureau that list their homes as being in Iowa City.

The actual census forms began arriving last week, and at least some had the correct Coralville street address and ZIP code, but listed the town as Iowa City.

Some residents notified Rep. Dave Loebsack's office when the initial mailings arrived, and on March 12 he sent a letter to the Census Bureau director asking him to apologize and have new forms mailed to Coralville residents.

Loebsack's office had not received a response as of Thursday morning.

As Loebsack noted in his letter, the census plays a key role in federal funding because a lot of that money is distributed based on population.

Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said city officials have been assured the count will be accurate. Assistant City Administrator Ellen Habel said the Census Bureau said the addresses are only used to get the forms to homes and the count is based on tract and geocodes.

Hayworth said what is important is that Coralville residents complete and return their forms.

Loebsack Spokeswoman Sabrina Siddiqui reiterated that, although she said the congressman still thought Coralville residents deserved an apology and new census forms.