July 14, 2021–7:34 p.m.

WHITE HOUSE OMB AND STAFF REPORTS

It appears as though Rome will keep its status at a Metropolitan Statistical area following an announcement Tuesday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.

In January, the OMB published a Federal Register notice announcing the intention to increase the population threshold for the core of a Metropolitan Statistical Area from 50,000 to 100,000,

Floyd County would be below that threshold with a population of just over 98,000.

However, following a public comment period, the Standards Review Committee’s revised the recommendation, and OMB’s 2020 Standards will maintain the MSA threshold of 50,000.

The announcement also stated that:

“Recognizing the committee’s concern that MSA thresholds have not kept pace with population growth, OMB will work with the Standards Review Committee to conduct research and stakeholder outreach to inform the 2030 standards update.”

Core-based statistical area standards are intended for statistical purposes only to help ensure Federal agencies that classify statistics, such as unemployment numbers or GDP levels.

However, many federal programs and policies rely on the MSA when determining funding and financial incentives.

You can read the announcement HERE.