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Having trouble with the U.S. Census forms you received from the federal government.

Not a problem according to a Volusia County spokesperson.

The U.S. Census Bureau will open 42 census Questionnaire Assistance Centers and 22 questionnaire pick-up sites in Volusia County from March 19 through April 19.

The Questionnaire Assistance Centers will be staffed by employees who speak English, and 17 centers will have bilingual or multilingual staff.

The staff will be available to help residents fill out their forms.

During each location’s normal business hours, residents also may pick up and complete a census questionnaire if they did not receive one.

The Be Counted, or questionnaire pick-up, sites will have boxes where residents may pick up a census form if they did not receive one in the mail.

Staff will not be available to provide assistance at these sites.

The site list is attached and also is available at: www.volusiacounts.org.

Residents began receiving their census questionnaires Tuesday.

They are required to return them by April 1.

If not… you will receive a replacement in April.

In May, June and July, census workers will visit the homes of people who did not respond.

For more information about the 2010 Census, please visit: www.2010census.gov.

Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach announced that over $65 million in school construction bonds has been made available to District 24 schools through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Recovery Act school construction bonds provide low-cost borrowing to finance the construction, rehabilitation or repair of a public school facility or for the acquisition of land where a school will be built.

According to the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Education, in addition to over $81 million in bond funds for the Florida Department of Education, more than $12 million is now available to Brevard County schools, $36 million for Orange County, and $17 million for Volusia County.

Qualified school construction bonds from the Recovery Act help state and local governments obtain low-cost financing for much needed public school improvements and construction.

Investors who buy these bonds receive Federal income tax credits at prescribed tax credit rates in lieu of interest.

The tax credit bonds essentially allow state and local governments to borrow without incurring interest costs.