BASSC 4L - State Certification Letter

BASSC-4L

(10-2015)

<Date>

<BAS Mailing Position>

<Entity Name>

<BAS Mailing Dept Name>

<BAS Mailing Address>

<BAS City, ST, Zip+4>

Dear State Certifying Official:

The Governor’s office notified us that you will be serving as the State Certifying Official (SCO) for [insert State]. We have assembled a list of all active incorporated places and minor civil divisions in [insert State] as well as a list of boundary changes that the local governments reported to us as part of their response to the 2015 Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS). The information collected through the BAS is used to tabulate and report data from the decennial Census, the Population Estimates Program, and the American Community Survey.

For the 2016 BAS State Certification Program, we are providing you with the information from the 2015 BAS. You may keep the computer discs and their contents for your files:

• List 1 – governments that have disincorporated, become inactive, or otherwise ceased to exist;

• List 2 – boundary changes reported to the 2015 BAS in effect by January 1, 2015;

• List 3 – names and functional statuses of incorporated places;

• List 4 – names and functional statuses of minor civil divisions (MCDs); and

• 2015 BAS maps of legal boundary changes and corrections

According to our research of the State laws, local governments are not required to report annexations, deannexations, incorporations, or disincorporations to a state level agency. Therefore, we will not edit or remove any information in the data files without confirmation from the local government or receipt of legal documentation. A brief summary of the state laws are attached to this letter for your review.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please have a member of your staff call Ms. Madeline Sovich or Mr. Nathan Jones of the Partnership Communication and Outreach branch by telephone at 301-763-1099 or by email at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Timothy F. Trainor

Chief, Geography Division

Enclosure