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LUCA Schedule

You may sign up to participate in LUCA anytime between August 2007 and December 31, 2007 and you will receive the materials within a few weeks. You must sign for the materials when you receive them and that is the start of your 120-day clock.

Important Dates

• The last day to sign up if you want LUCA to double as your Boundary and Annexation Survey submission for 2008 is October 31, 2007.
• Sign-up materials must be postmarked by November 19, 2007, in order to have a guarantee of the full 120-day review period.
  • It is a good idea to not wait until the very last day, however. If you are cutting it close, sending it by registered mail would be a very good idea.
• You can sign up until December 31, 2007, but you won't get the full 120 days to participate because the Census Bureau must receive all materials back by April 4, 2008.

The Timeline

Below is the timeline posted by the Census Bureau.

Time Frame	Activity
Jan to Feb 2007	LUCA Advance notice letters mailed to the highest elected official and other contacts in all active functioning governments.
August 2007 (originally planned for July)	LUCA invitation letters and registration materials mailed to the highest elected official and other contacts of each government.
August 2007 to Jan 2008	Invited governments register for LUCA and the Census Bureau ships the LUCA review materials to each participating government.
Sept 2007 to March 2008	LUCA participants review and update the address list and return their comments to the Census Bureau's Regional Office.
Oct 2007 to Oct 2008	Census Bureau reviews the participant's LUCA submission and updates the Master Address File and the TIGER geographic database.
Nov 2008 to June 2009	Census Bureau prepares for and conducts the Address Canvassing Operation using GPS equipped hand-held computers.
August 2009 to Oct 2009	Census Bureau ships feedback materials to the LUCA participants showing how we processed each government's LUCA submissions.
Sept 2009 to Dec 2009	LUCA participants review their LUCA feedback and have the opportunity to appeal the results to the LUCA Appeals Office.
Sept 2009 to Jan 2010	LUCA Appeals Office reviews and adjudicates the appeals.

Common Questions

1. “Well, it looks like I'll get back to my regular work and start thinking about this in August or later... you know, after I sign up and get the files from the Census Bureau.”

   Don't wait until receiving the files from the Census Bureau to begin this process. You should have your data together up-front before ever receiving the Census address list. Remember that there are only 120 days to review the files and send them back. Learn more about how you prepare in advance.

2. “It’s a good idea to wait until the end of the review period to make my LUCA submission—that way I can provide more addresses.”

   The Census Bureau will process all timely LUCA submissions that meet the stated requirements. However, if there are any problems, late submissions have less opportunity for those to be resolved.

3. “It's 2007... what about the new housing units that are going to be built between now and 2010?”

There will be a new construction program in 2009 available to LUCA participants that will enable you to update the new housing units in your area. This program only accepts new construction so don't be misled to think that it's a second opportunity to do a full LUCA review then.

 

As a partner in the Indiana Data Center Program, this site is maintained by the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. If you have questions or comments, contact us here.

The Indiana Data Center Program is a federal-state partnership between the U.S. Census Bureau and the State of Indiana and is managed by the Indiana State Library in collaboration with its coordinating agencies, the Indiana Business Research Center, the Indiana Geographic Information Council and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.