BASSC Guide State Certification Respondent Guide

Boundary and Annexation Survey
Respondent Guide: State Certification
Revised as of December 04, 2015

Silver Hill City

U.S. Department of Commerce
Economic and Statistics Administration
U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
census.gov

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Boundary and Annexation Survey Respondent Guide: State Certification Program

Table of Contents
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) State ment ................................................................... ii
Introduction to Boundary and Annexation Survey State Certification Program ..... iii
List 1:

Entities That Disincorporated, Became Inactive, or Ceased to Exist .......... 1

1.1

Data File Description ............................................................................................. 1

1.2

Instructions ............................................................................................................. 1

List 2:

Boundary Changes.............................................................................................. 3

2.1.

Data File Description ............................................................................................. 3

2.2.

Instructions ............................................................................................................. 4

List 3:

Incorporated Places ............................................................................................ 6

3.1.

Data File Description ............................................................................................. 6

3.2.

Instructions ............................................................................................................. 6

List 4:

Minor Civil Divisions ........................................................................................... 8

4.1.

Data File Description ............................................................................................. 8

4.2.

Instructions ............................................................................................................. 9

Returning Updates with the Secure Web Incoming Module ...................................... 10
5.1.

Submitting Digital Files via the Secure Web Incoming Module......................... 10

5.2.

Additional Information .......................................................................................... 16

Appendices ........................................................................................................................ 17
APPENDIX A States with Functioning/Nonfunctioning MCDs…………………….A-1
APPENDIX B Definitions…………………………………………………………………B-1

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PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT (PRA) STATEMENT
A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for
failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act unless that collection of information displays a current valid OMB Control
Number. This collection is voluntary. The authority for conducting this collection comes from
Title 13 U.S.C, Section 6.
The OMB Control Number for this information collection is 0607-0151. Public reporting for
this collection of information is estimated to be approximately 2 hours per response, including
the time for reviewing instructions, completing and reviewing the collection of information.
Comments concerning the accuracy of this burden and suggestions for reducing the burden
should be directed to: Paperwork Reduction 0607-0151, United States Census Bureau, 4600
Silver Hill Road, Room 3K138, Washington, DC 20233. You may email comments to
[email protected]; use “Paperwork Project 0607-0151” as the subject.

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INTRODUCTION TO BOUNDARY AND ANNEXATION SURVEY STATE
CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
OVERVIEW OF THE STATE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
The 2016 Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) State Certification Program invites the
Governor-appointed State Certifying Official (SCO) to review the information that the local
governments reported to the U.S. Census Bureau during the 2015 BAS. The BAS is an
annual survey of local and county governments conducted by the Census Bureau to collect
legal boundary updates, names of legally defined geographic areas, and functional statuses
of governmental units.
The purpose of the State Certification Program is to verify the accuracy, validity, and
completeness of the BAS information with the state governments. Every year, the Census
Bureau will mail compact discs (CDs) containing the listings of the information collected from
the previous BAS year to the SCO. These listings include the attribute information for
disincorporations and legal boundary changes as well as the names and functional statuses
of incorporated places and Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs). In addition, the CDs will contain
maps depicting the boundary changes that local governments in your state reported to the
2015 BAS.
The SCO should certify any records that were legally implemented in accordance with their
state laws. Depending on the state laws, the SCO may request the Census Bureau to edit
the attribute information or remove invalid records from the listings. The SCO may also notify
the Census Bureau of records that are missing from the listings. If a state does not have a
law in effect mandating local governments to report status or boundary changes to a state
agency, the Census Bureau will provide the listings to the SCO for informational purposes
only.
The letter in the State Certification package lists the types of changes that are required by
state law to be reported to a state level agency. If there is an error in the information, please
provide an explanation of the state laws in question to Madeline Sovich or Nathan Jones of
the Partnership Communication and Outreach Branch (PCOB) at [email protected].

STATE CERTIFICATION LISTINGS
This section discusses the 2016 BAS State Certification listings, which are provided as
Microsoft E xc e l S p r e a d s h e e ts.


List 1 – Entities reported to the Census Bureau that have disincorporated,
become inactive, or otherwise ceased to exist. This listing is only available if a
deleted entity was reported to the Census Bureau during the 2015 BAS.



List 2 – Reported legal boundary changes (annexations,
deannexations/detachments, etc.) to active incorporated places within the state
as of January 1, 2015.



List 3 – All governmentally active and inactive incorporated places in the
state, according to the Census Bureau’s records as of January 1, 2015.

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

List 4 – All governmentally active and inactive MCDs in the state, according to
Census Bureau’s records as of January 1, 2015. Appendix A provides a list of
states that have MCDs.

PREVIEW OF CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES
Please review each record for each listing. As the SCO, you have the authority to submit any
changes to the Census Bureau. You will be reporting your determinations for each record by
entering ONE of the following action codes in the listing file Cert. column, which are defined
in the table below:
Action Code

Description

C

Certify. The SCO certifies that the information for the record is
complete, accurate, and conforms to applicable state laws.

A

Add. The SCO adds a record from the state’s file that is
missing from the listing.
Reverse. The SCO requests to remove an invalid record from
the listing.
Edit. The SCO edits the attribute information in for an existing
record in the listing.
Duplicate Entry. The SCO indicates that the record is a
duplicate of another record in the listing.

R
E
X

Leaving a blank field means there are no actions for the
record. The Census Bureau will continue to maintain the
record and its current attribute information.
Table 1: Action Codes and Descriptions

STATE LAWS
The SCO is responsible for understanding the laws in their state that pertain to legal
boundary changes, new incorporations, and disincorporations/dissolutions since this will
determine the extent to which the Census Bureau will accept changes to the State
Certification listings. Strong law states require local governments to report any legal actions
causing changes to their legal boundaries to the state government. If such laws are in effect,
the SCO should have access to a complete boundary change file through the state
government, which they shall use to compare with the Census Bureau listings. In strong law
states, the SCO may pursue any of the actions described in Table 1.
In states that do not have such laws, the SCO does not need to submit the edited listings to
the Census Bureau. However, if the SCO does have access to a state-level boundary
change file, they may use it to certify or add missing records to the State Certification listings.
In most cases, the Census Bureau will accept these actions. Reversals and edits will not be
accepted unless these changes are confirmed by the local governmental entity affected by
the change.

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List 1:

ENTITIES THAT DISINCORPORATED, BECAME INACTIVE, OR
CEASED TO EXIST

1.1 Data File Description
List 1 contains the names of all geographic entities in your state that have: disincorporated,
became inactive (no longer have officers, collect revenue, or conduct governmental
activities), or otherwise ceased to exist as of January 1, 2015. Table 2 provides an
explanation of the fields in the data file.

Colum
nA

Field Name

Description

Entity Name
and LSAD

Entity’s Name and Expanded legal/statistical area description.

B

County

C

Death Date

County/counties in which the entity is located.
The date on file for when the entity disincorporated, became
inactive, or otherwise ceased to exist.

D

Death Date
Update

E

Cert.

F

Memo

Will be initially blank so that you may provide edits to the data in the
Death Date field without overriding original data.
Will also be initially blank so that you may indicate the
records that you certify as correct and complete.
Will also be initially blank so that you may include any notes you
have regarding a certain record.
Table 2: List 1 Data File Field Descriptions

Example 1: List 1

1.2 Instructions
Please review the data file to ensure that it provides a complete and correct inventory of all
entities that have disincorporated, become inactive, or otherwise ceased to exist as of
January 1, 2015.
For all records that are deemed to be correct and complete:


In the Cert. field, enter a “C” if you certify the record to be complete, accurate, and
conforming to applicable laws in your state.

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If there is an entity that disincorporated, became inactive, or otherwise ceased to exist by
January 1, 2015 and is missing from the data file:


In a new row at the bottom of the data file, enter the missing entity’s name and the
entity type (such as town, township, city, etc.) in the Entity name and Legal/Statistical
Area Description (LSAD) field, the date the entity disincorporated, became inactive, or
otherwise ceased to exist into the Death Date Update field, and provide an
explanation in the Memo field.



In the Cert. field, enter an “A”. This will inform the Census Bureau that an additional
entity should be added to the list of deleted entities.

If any entity is listed in error:


In the Cert. field, enter an “R” to notify the Census Bureau that this entity should be
removed from the list of deleted entities.



In the Memo field, provide an explanation why the entity should be removed. If there is
an error with the Death Date of an entity:
o In the Death Date Update field, enter the correct date the entity ceased to
exist.
o In the Cert. field, type an “E” to notify the Census Bureau that the Death
Date must be edited in the list of deleted entities.

If any entity is duplicated:


In the Cert. field, enter an “X” to inform the Census Bureau that this entity is a
duplicate of another entity.



In the Memo field, indicate the duplicate ID.

Upon completion of your review of the List 1 data file, please certify the statement at the
bottom of the file by typing your full name, title, and the date of your concurrence below the
provided statement.

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List 2:

BOUNDARY CHANGES

2.1. Data File Description
The List 2 data file provides an inventory of legal boundary changes to active incorporated
places within your state that were reported to the 2015 BAS. If an entity is not listed in a file,
it means that the entity did not report boundary changes effective as of January 1, 2015 to
the 2015 BAS. Table 3 provides an explanation of the fields in the data file.
Column
A
B

Field Name
Place Name
and LSAD
FIPS Place
Code

Description
Entity’s name and expanded legal/statistical area description.
Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code for the place.

C

Action

D

Action
Update

Shows whether the boundary change is an annexation, detachment, or
other type of action.
Will be blank so that you may provide edits to the data in the Action field
without overwriting original data.

E

Type

Shows the type of legal authorization that effected the change.

F

Type Update

Will be blank so that you may provide edits to the data in the Type field
without overwriting original data.

G

Number

The identification number of the legal document that recorded the
authorization effecting the change to the boundary.

H

Number
Update

I

Effective
Date

J

Effective
Date Update

Will be blank so that you may provide edits to the data in the Number field
without overwriting original data.
Lists the effective date of each action. (Please note that there may be a
difference between the effective date of actions on this list and the
effective date in your files because the Census Bureau’s records contain
a locally reported date.)
Will be blank so that you may provide edits to the data in the Effective
Date Update field without overwriting original data.

K

Acreage

Lists the reported acreage of the affected territory.

L

Acreage
Update

Will be blank so that you may provide edits to the data in the Acreage
field without overwriting original data.

M

Keying Date

Lists the date that the record was entered into the Census Bureau’s
Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding
Referencing (MAF/TIGER) System. The keying date may be used to
research boundary changes on the Census Bureau’s maps.

N

Cert.

O

Will be blank so that you may indicate the records that you certify as
correct and complete. (See Table 1.)
Will be blank so that you may provide additional information about the
record if necessary.
Table 3: List 2 Field Descriptions

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Example 2: List 2

2.2. Instructions
Please review this data file to verify that:


Each legal boundary change was accomplished in accordance with applicable state
law.



The Place name, Action, Type, and Effective Date shown for each change is correct.



The Census Bureau’s list is complete as of January 1, 2015.

When reviewing the data file, you may determine that a record(s) in the Census Bureau’s
data file does not match your records. If this occurs, please research if specific attributes of
the change are incorrect or if the boundary update was not completed in accordance with
your state law(s). The Census Bureau has provided disc(s) containing PDFs of the
mapsheets received during the 2015 BAS depicting the boundary change.
The mapsheets are named using the following naming convention:


___.pdf



To find a boundary change on a mapsheet:



Locate the date provided in the List 2 Keying Date field. This field will have the BAS
year the change was received.

Look at each mapsheet provided for the place, beginning with the ones that have only
numeric characters in the last portion of the file name. The majority of the changes are
digitized from these BAS maps. If you are unable to find the change on one of those
mapsheets, refer to the other PDF files.
These files contain supplementary maps that are used from time to time to directly digitize
into MAF/TIGER.
NOTE: Some places provide the Census Bureau with the legal documentation along with maps of
boundary changes. If you wish to view the legal documentation for a change, please send
an e-mail to [email protected]. In the e-mail, please specify the entity that the change
affected, and the attribute information associated with the change in List 2. The Census
Bureau will research to determine if we have any supplemental information for this change.

Once you have completed the review of the List 2 and the accompanying BAS maps, you
should be able to determine:


If a boundary change was accomplished in accordance with pertinent state laws;

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

If there was an error in the depiction of the boundary change and/or attribute
information, or;



If boundary change was not accomplished in accordance with applicable state laws.

If a boundary change was accomplished in accordance with your state law and the attribute
data are correct:


In the Cert. field, enter a “C” to indicate that you certify the change. If a boundary
update is missing from the Census Bureau’s records:



Type the entity’s name where the change occurred in the Entity name field,
“annexation” or “detachment” into the Action Update field, “ordinance”, “resolution”,
“local law”, “state-level action”, or “other” into the Type Update field, the legal
document number into the Number Update field, the effective date into the Effective
Date Update field, and if you are aware of the acreage, the acreage into the Acreage
Update field.



In the Cert. field, enter an “A” to inform the Census Bureau that an additional
boundary change should be added to MAF/TIGER.

If a boundary change was not accomplished in accordance with applicable state law, you
may either:


Leave the Cert. field blank, which will indicate that your state government does not
certify the change but you do not wish to reverse the change at this time, or



In the Cert. field, enter an “R” to reverse the change. In the blank cell to the right of
the Cert. field, please note the reason as well as any additional information about the
reversal.

If a portion or all of the attribute data for the boundary change is incorrect:


Type the correct data in the field to the right of the incorrect data. For example, if the
information in the Action field is incorrect, type the correct information in the Action
Update field to the right of the Action field. If the date in which the change is effective
is incorrect, enter the correct date in the Effective Date Update field. Blank update
fields are also provided if you need to change the Type, Number, and Acreage
information.



In the Cert. field, enter an “E” to notify the Census Bureau that a portion or all the
attributes for this record must be edited.

If a boundary update is a duplicate of an already existing boundary change:


In the Cert. field, enter an “X”.



In the Memo field, enter duplicate ID.

Upon completion of your review of List 2, please certify the statement at the bottom of the
data file. In order to certify this statement, type your name, title, and the date of your
concurrence below the provided statement.

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List 3:

INCORPORATED PLACES

3.1. Data File Description
The List 3 data file shows the names of all active and inactive incorporated places in
your state according to the Census Bureau’s records. An active incorporated place is
one that has officials (elected or appointed) and has the legal capacity to raise revenues
and conduct general governmental activities. Table 4 provides an explanation of each
of the fields in the data file.
Column
A

Field Name
County Name
Place Name and

Lists the places in alphabetical order within the county. If a place
exists in multiple counties, it will be listed under each county in
which it is located.

LSAD

The LSAD is the expanded legal/statistical area description, such
as city, town, village, etc.

B

C

Part Flag

D

FS

E

FS Update

F

Cert.
Memo

G

Description
The county (or borough or census area in Alaska, parish for
Louisiana) where each incorporated place is located.

If the entity is located within multiple counties, this field will be
populated by the letter “P” otherwise this field will be blank.
Lists the functional status (FS) of the entity. (See Appendix B for
definitions)
Will be initially blank so that you may provide edits to the
information in the FS field without overwriting original data.
Will be initially blank so that you may indicate the records that
you certify as correct and complete.
Will be initially blank so that you may include notes.
Table 4: List 3 Data File Field Descriptions

Example 3: List 3

3.2. Instructions
Please review the List 3 Data File (Example 3) to ensure that it provides a complete
and correct inventory of all incorporated places that were governmentally active or
inactive.
If a place is located in multiple counties in your records, please review the file to ensure
that it is listed under each applicable county. Places that occur in multiple counties in
MAF/TIGER will have “P” entered in column C of the data file.

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For all records that you deem to be correct and complete:


In the Cert. field, type a “C” to indicate you certify the record.” If a place is
missing from the data file:
o In a new row at the bottom of the data file, type the place’s county’s
name in the County Name field, the place’s name in the Place name
field, the entity type (such as city) in the LSAD field, “active” or
“inactive” in the FS field, and the effective date when the place legally
incorporated in the Memo field.

NOTE: If the place exists in two or more counties, type all the county names, separated by
commas, into the County Name field.



In the Cert. field, enter “A” which will inform the Census Bureau that this place
should be added to MAF/TIGER.

If a place is no longer incorporated:


In the Memo field, provide the effective date of the status change.



In the Cert. field, type an “R” to notify the Census Bureau that the place should
be removed from MAF/TIGER.

If the functional status of a place has changed:


In the FS Update field, enter the correct functional status.



In the Memo field, enter the effective date of the status change.



In the Cert. field, type an “E” to notify the Census Bureau that the functional
status must be edited in MAF/TIGER.

Upon completion of your review of the List 3 data file, please certify the statement at the
bottom of the data file. In order to certify this statement, type your name, title, and the
date of your concurrence below the provided statement.

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List 4:

MINOR CIVIL DIVISIONS

4.1. Data File Description
The List 4 data file shows the names of all active and inactive MCD in your state
according to the Census Bureau’s records. An active MCD operates as a governmental
unit, having officials (elected or appointed), and having the legal capacity to raise
revenues and conduct general governmental activities. States that do not have MCDs
will receive the List 4 data file that will contain all the county names and the following
statement: “No MCDs in this county.” See Appendix A for a list of states that have
MCDs.
This data file shows the names of all governmentally active or inactive MCDs in your
state, according to the Census Bureau’s records. The file does not include MCDs that
the Census Bureau considers to be unorganized. Table 5 provides an explanation of
the fields in the data file.
Column
A

Field Name
County name

Description
The county where each entity is located.

B

MCD Name
LSAD county

Lists MCDs in alphabetical order within the state. The LSAD
is the expanded legal/statistical area description, such as
town or township.

C

FS

Lists the FS of the entity. (See Appendix B for definitions.)

D

FS Update

E

Cert.

F

Memo

Will be initially blank so that you may provide an updated
functional status without overwriting original data in the FS
field.
Will be initially blank so that you may indicate the records that
you certify as correct and complete.
Will be initially blank so that you may include any notes you
have regarding the record.

Table 5: List 4 - Data File Field Descriptions

Example 4: List 4

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4.2. Instructions
Please review the List 4 Data File (Example 4) to ensure that it provides a complete
and correct inventory of all MCDs that were governmentally active or inactive.
For all records that you deem to be correct and complete:


In the Cert. field, type a “C” to indicate you certify the record. If an entity that is
missing from the data file:



In a new row at the bottom of the data file, type the MCD’s name followed by its
legal area description (such as town or township) in the MCD name and LSAD
field, “active” or “inactive” in the FS Update field, and the effective date when the
MCD organized in the Memo field.



In the Cert. field, type “A” which will inform the Census Bureau that this MCD
should be added to MAF/TIGER.

If an MCD is no longer organized:


In the Memo field, provide the effective date when the MCD ceased to exist.



In the Cert. field, type an “R” to notify the Census Bureau that the MCD should be
removed from MAF/TIGER.

If the functional status of an MCD has changed:


In the FS Update field, enter the correct functional status.



In the Memo field, enter the effective date of the status change.



In the Cert. field, enter an “E” to notify the Census Bureau that the functional
status must be edited in MAF/TIGER.

Upon completion of your review of the List 4 data file, please certify the statement at the
bottom of the data file. In order to certify this statement, type your name, title, and the
date of your concurrence below the provided statement.

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RETURNING UPDATES WITH THE SECURE WEB INCOMING MODULE
5.1. Submitting Digital Files via the Secure Web Incoming Module
The SWIM is a new one-stop location for submitting your geographic program files to
the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau now requires that all BAS participants use the
Census Bureau’s SWIM for submitting update materials.
The old BAS FTP site is no longer in operation, so please do not use it. Do not send
your submission as an email attachment, as we cannot accept them due to the security
policy at the Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau will email the SCO contact a SWIM registration token and digital
submission instructions five days after the SCO contact responds to the BAS Annual
Response indicating that they have changes to report. To respond online, please fill out
the online form at http://www.census.gov/geo/partnerships/bas/bas_ar_form.html. The
five-day waiting period will give the Census Bureau staff time to update the BAS contact
record if necessary so that the email reaches the right person.
This token is good for one personal account within the SWIM. Once you have registered
for an account in SWIM, you will no longer need the token to login into the system. If
you require additional individual SWIM accounts within your organization, please
contact the Census Bureau at 1-800-972-5651 or email [email protected].
If you are a participant for other Census Bureau geographic programs, you only need
one SWIM account to submit files for all geographic partnership programs.
NOTE: If you have any questions about the “Send A File” FTP utility, please contact PCOB at
301-763-1099 or e-mail: [email protected].

At this time, the SWIM only accepts ZIP files. Please zip all your update materials (e.g.,
spatial updates and other relevant update documents) into one ZIP file for your entity’s
submission, and follow the instructions listed below:
1.

In a web browser, go to https://respond.census.gov/swim.

2.

Login:
a)

New Users: You must have a registration token to create a new account.
(Please see above.) Once you have your token, please sign-up by clicking
the ‘Register Account’ button. Registration is self-serve, but does require
the new user to enter a registration token to validate their rights to the
system

b)

If you already have a registered account, please login with your user
credentials.

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Example 5: SWIM Account Registration

Example 6: SWIM login window

3.

If you have submitted files before, the SWIM lists them on the startup screen
upon login. Click 'Start New Upload' to continue.

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Example 7: Welcome screen with upload history

4.

On the next screen, select the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) option
as the geographic partnership program, and click ‘Next’ to continue.

Example 8: Geographic partnership program selection window.

5.

On this screen, you will select a geographic level. This is the geography type of
your agency (e.g., if you are a county government submitting data, select
county. If an incorporated place, then select place...etc.). Click 'Next' to
continue.

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Example 9: Geographic level selection window

6.

Use the drop-down selectors to find the name of your geographic entity. These
options dynamically update based on the geography type selected from the
previous screen. Click ‘Next’ to continue.

Example 10: Geographic entity selection window (state and county)

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7.

On the file upload screen, please click on the ‘+ Add file', and a file browser
dialog will appear.

Example 11: File upload screen

8.

In the file browser dialog box, select the ZIP file you would like to upload.
Please be aware that the SWIM website only accepts ZIP files. Click 'Open' to
continue.

Example 12: File browser dialog box

9.

At this time, you may enter any comments that you wish to include with your
file. Click 'Next' to upload your submission.

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Example 13: Entering comments into the file upload window

10. The final screen will be a “Thank You” screen confirming receipt of your file
submission. If you do not see this screen, or you encounter any issues during
this upload process, please contact the Census Bureau.

Example 14: Thank you screen

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5.2. Additional Information
The Census Bureau recommends using FIPS codes to identify entities such as
counties, MCDs, and incorporated places. Using a standard coding scheme facilitates
the digital exchange of data.
The Census Bureau includes these codes in the BAS shapefiles. Online, you can find
the codes at http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/download_data.htm. If there are any
questions or problems, contact the Census Bureau at 1-800-972-5651 or
[email protected].

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APPENDICES

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APPENDIX A

States with Functioning/Nonfunctioning
MCDs

States with Functioning MCDs

States with Nonfuctioning MCDs

Connecticut

Arkansas

Illinois

Iowa

Indiana

Louisiana

Kansas

Maryland

Massachusetts

Mississippi

Michigan

North Carolina

Minnesota

Tennessee

Missouri

Virginia

Nebraska

West Virginia

New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Vermont
Wisconsin

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APPENDIX B

Definitions

Active governmental unit – a functioning governmental unit that is exercising its
legal capacity to have elected or appointed officials, raise revenues, and perform
governmental activities (such as enactment of laws, provision of services, and
entering into contracts).
Functional Status – the administrative or legal activities associated with performing
the legally prescribed functions of a governmental unit. If the administrative or legal
entity is functioning, its functional status is either active or inactive.
Functioning governmental unit – a general-purpose government that has the legal
capacity to elect or appoint officials, raise revenues, provide services, and enter
into contracts. Functional governments may have an active or inactive functional
status.
Governmental Unit – a geographic entity established by legal action, and for the
purpose of implementing administrative or governmental functions. Most
governmental units have officially recognized boundaries. (Ex: incorporated places
and MCDs)
Inactive governmental unit – a functioning governmental unit that is not currently
exercising its legal capacity to have elected or appointed officials; thus, it is not
raising revenue or providing services.
Incorporated place – a type of governmental unit, incorporated under State law as
a city, town (except in New England, New York, and Wisconsin), borough
(except in Alaska and New York), or village, having legally prescribed limits,
powers, and functions.
Minor Civil Division (MCD) – a type of governmental unit that is the primary
subdivision of a county for 29 states, created to govern or administer an
rather than a specific population. The several types of MCDs are identified
variety of terms, such as town, township, and district, and include
functioning and nonfunctioning governmental units.

legal
area
by a
both

Nonfunctioning governmental unit – a legally defined governmental unit that does
not have the legal capacity to have appointed or elected officials, raise revenues, or
perform general purpose governmental activities such as enacting laws, entering into
contracts, or providing services.
Unorganized Territory (UT) – the statistical equivalent of an MCD encompassing
contiguous area that is not within any functioning/nonfunctioning MCD or
incorporated place.

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