SAN ANTONIO -- On Monday, the U.S. Census Bureau began sending out first class letters to roughly 120 million households. The letter notified the recipients the 2010 Census forms will begin arriving in the mail next week and urged them to complete the form and return it promptly.

Not long after the letters began arriving, the Internet was buzzing with allegations of government waste. At a time when government spending is under intense scrutiny and the national debt is in the trillions of dollars, many Americans wondered why a reminder letter is necessary.

"It has been proved in the past that sending out the advance letter increases the response rate," said Sophia Morena, a local spokesperson for the 2010 Census.

Moreno said the letters increase the response rate by up to 16 percent. Taxpayers save about $85 million for each 1 percent increase.

"It's much better if $0.42 on a stamp on that letter gets spent than us having to send a census worker knocking on your door and then we end up spending about $60 per person."

Several San Antonians were pleased to receive the advance letter.

"I think spending that little extra just to get that extra heads up might be a good thing," said Le Lowry.

"It makes sense because not everyone opens their mail," said Forrest Ballard. "I didn't really think of it as a waste of money."

Some local Twitter users saw the issue differently.

Hotshotsphoto wrote: "A letter to tell me I'll be getting a letter. Thanx for trying to keep USPS in biz."

La_lu said, "It's a WASTE we are being bombarded with ALL the tv spots. Think we all know it's coming.

Wasteful or not, the Census Bureau said it's just trying to make sure everyone gets counted so each community receives the maximum benefits.

"In a sense, each person carries a certain value of money and political representation and we need to make sure they are counted," Moreno said. "If we have less people participating, it means less money and less political representation that comes to your towns and cities."

For more information, visit the U.S. Census Bureau's Web site.