By Jacque Day
Statewide – Regional Census Bureau director William Hatcher says Kentucky deserves credit for helping save an estimated $1.6 billion in costs for the 2010 census. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke says the census will come in 22 percent under budget. Hatcher says, Kentucky's mail-in participation rate of 75 percent exceeded the national rate by three points and trailed only Virginia in the immediate five-state region. The Census Bureau estimates that for every one percentage of households that mailed back a completed form, taxpayers saved about $85 million.