Boundary changes received during the 2011 Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS)


FILE DESCRIPTION:

The boundary change files contain the attribute information of boundary changes for active incorporated places, which participating governments voluntarily reported to the U.S. Census Bureau through the 2011 BAS and the BAS State Certification program.


FILE NAME:

The file name is created by appending the following sequence of text strings: (2-digit state FIPS code) + (2-character state abbreviation) + '_bas11'. For example, the file name for Alabama is created by appending: '01' + 'AL' + '_bas11' to produce the following file name: '01AL_bas11'. 


FILE FORMAT(S):

MS Excel 1997-2003
ANSI Text (tab delimited)


FILE EXTRACTION DATE:

September 29, 2011


FIELD NAMES AND DEFINITIONS:

State: 2-digit state FIPS code
Place Name and LSAD: Name of the affected incorporated place and legal/statistical description
FIPS Place Code: 5-digit FIPS code for the incorporated place
Action: Boundary change action
Type: Type of legal authorization effecting the boundary change
Number: ID number of the document recording the legal authorization
Effective Date: Date (mm-dd-yyyy) the boundary change legally went into effect
Acreage: Estimated area of the boundary change rounded to the nearest tenth of an acre
Keying Date: Date (mm-dd-yyyy) the boundary change was entered into the Census Bureau database
Cert: State Certification flag


FIELD FORMATS:

State: [Text]
Place Name and LSAD: [Text]
FIPS Place Code: [Text]
Action: [Text]
Type: [Text]
Number: [Text]
Effective Date: [Text]
Acreage: [Double]
Keying Date: [Text]
Cert: [Text]


CERT FIELD FLAGS:

C - The State Certifying Official (SCO) certified the boundary change complies with state laws.
A - SCO added record. Spatial data not received and boundary change not shown in Census products.
R - SCO flagged record for removal. Boundary change not valid or violates state laws.
E - SCO editted attribute information.
X - SCO flagged record as a duplicate of another record
Blank - No actions received from SCO


BASID:

The Census Bureau maintains an 11-digit BASID as a unique identifier to file governmental units for the BAS. For the incorporated places listed in the boundary changes files, the BASID may be created by appending the following text strings and field names: '1' + [State] + '000' + [FIPS Place Code]. For example, the BASID for Adamsville city, Alabama is formed by appending: '1' + '01'(State) + '000' + '00460' (FIPS Place Code) to produce: '10100000460'.


BAS YEAR:

The BAS year is the year in which the Census Bureau collected and processed a set of boundary changes that participating governments reported to the BAS. The BAS year does not necessarily correspond to the year in which the boundary change legally went into effect. The Census Bureau accepts boundary changes in effect on or before January 1 of the BAS year. The BAS year may be identified by looking at the year in the Keying Date field for the boundary change record. For example, a Keying Date of '05-01-2011' indicates that the boundary change was collected and processed during the 2011 BAS.


U.S. Census Bureau
Geography Division
Geographic Areas Branch

Created: October 14, 2011