Top Census official retiring

WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) -- Preston Jay Waite, a veteran U.S. Census Bureau employee in charge of the upcoming 2010 count, has announced his retirement.

The impending departure of Waite, the deputy director of the agency, could create more problems for the 2010 census, USA Today reported. Census officials have already said that they need another $230 million for this year to carry out the agency's responsibilities.

"The problems that the Census is having will no doubt affect the accuracy of the 2010 Census," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who sits on the committee responsible for the census. "The only question is how bad will it be and is there still time to fix it?"

Waite, 62, said that he is leaving to spend more time with his family. Charles Louis Kincannon gave a similar reason when he retired in January.

The census is scheduled to begin April 1, 2010. By law, the count must be completed and reported to Congress by Dec. 31, 2010.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told Congress that the total cost of the 2010 census is expected to be $14.5 billion, an increase of $3 billion over the original budget.