Just how important this subject is was illustrated by the current
census.

We have some apartment buildings that are in tax locality "A".  "A" does
not have a post office of its own, and until a recent congressional
intervention, mail addressed to "A" locality could be returned by the
post office as undeliverable, because the zip code book did not
recognize "A" as a valid location.   Tax locality "A" addresses are
normally serviced by the post office in "B" locality. Computer address
programs recognize street addresses in "A" locality as being from "B",
even though they are not in "B" tax locality. This was the case with the
Bureau of the Census, which arbitrarily assigned "B" zip codes and town
names to the "A" apartments locations.  As a consequence, the Bureau of
the Census addressed Census 2000 forms to "B" zip code.  The catch is
that these particular apartment buildings which are located in "A" tax
locality are in fact serviced by a different post office in neighboring
community "C", which, to complicate matters further, is located in a
different county.

This state of affairs had several consequences for Census 2000.
(1) Most Census mail to these buildings was not returned making a
physical enumeration necessary.
(2) The Non-response Follow Up (NRFU) enumeration worksheets and
prepared forms have to be destroyed have to be deleted and replaced with
new worksheets and forms with the correct address reflecting the "C" zip
code.
(3) Any follow-ups already enumerated have to be transcribed on to new
forms.
(4) The question of whether census returns made directly by residents or
are assigned to
jurisdiction "A", "B", or "C" is undetermined at this point in time.
(5) Assignment of NRFU returns to "A", "B" or "C" tax localities also
remains undetermined.
(6) Since the area is heavily populated, it will have a material adverse
effect on tax locality "A" should its residents be assigned to either
"B" or "C" localities because of postal and Census Bureau confusion.

While my understanding of the internal workings of the Bureau of the
Census remains marginal at best, it seems to me that it is in the best
interests of communities to work toward alignment of overlapping
jurisdictions of post office addresses and tax addresses. The failure to
address this situation could result in a material disadvantage to those
communities which have postal confusions.