Census Bureau webinar: confirm local boundaries ahead of 2026 BAS deadlines
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Summary
A U.S. Census Bureau webinar explained the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS), who may participate, how the BAS supports census and federal funding counts, and the key dates—boundaries must be effective by Jan. 1 and submissions for certain products are due March 1 (May 31 is the final submission window for next-year materials).
A Census Bureau presenter said a prerecorded webinar provides step‑by‑step guidance for responding to the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS), the annual program for governments to report annexations, deannexations, boundary corrections, incorporations/disincorporations and updates to Census‑designated places. The presenter said participating governments should confirm the Census Bureau’s boundary data before completing the annual response form.
The presenter said the BAS supports the Decennial Census, the American Community Survey and the Population Estimates Program and that up‑to‑date legal boundaries affect how federal funding is allocated to communities. The webinar noted the federal government allocates about $2.8 trillion annually across health, welfare, infrastructure and education programs, underscoring the funding stakes of accurate boundary data.
Who may participate: the presenter listed federally recognized tribes (reservation and off‑reservation trust land), states, counties and county equivalents (parishes, boroughs), minor civil divisions (towns and townships) and incorporated places (cities and villages). The BAS program maintains contacts for nearly 40,000 governments and offers state or county (consolidated BAS, or CBAS) agreements to simplify reporting for smaller jurisdictions.
Schedule and effective‑date rules: the presenter said BAS is conducted each year from January through May. Boundary updates must be in effect on or before Jan. 1 to be included in that survey year’s data. The webinar noted the 2026 BAS start was delayed to early February but reiterated the March 1, 2026 deadline for changes to be reflected in some Census products cannot be changed; items returned by May 31 are carried into next year’s materials.
How to get help: the presenter directed listeners to the BAS website for the annual response form, participation and response viewer, help videos and the BAS Agreements page. For specific questions the webinar gives the contact email geo.bas@census.gov.
The webinar closed by encouraging governments to review TIGERweb, partnership shapefiles and the BAS PDF reference maps before submitting so that legal boundary changes are captured in the Census Bureau’s database.