Commissioner Pleased Berrien County Is Keeping MSA Designation

berriencountyadministration-92
berriencountyadministration-92

The decision this week by the federal Office of Management and Budget to halt a proposed change to the definition of a Metropolitan Statistical Area is being welcomed by the Berrien County Board of Commissioners. Speaking during this week’s meeting, Commissioner Bob Harrison said the numbers used by the government to define an MSA do matter to communities.

“Years and years ago, I was a regional health planner, and the reliance on those types of governmental designations was really critical in formulating, in my case, health policy but also in respect to money that comes to the region from both the state and federal government,” Harrison said.

The federal OMB was considering redefining Metropolitan Statistical Areas as being areas with at least 100,000 people, up from the current 50,000. That would have caused Michigan communities including Bay City, Battle Creek, and Jackson to lose their MSA status, thus affecting the allocation of funding to them. Also, the Niles-Benton Harbor MSA, or essentially Berrien County, would have lost that status. Harrison said the work of Congressman Fred Upton, Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette, and Kinexus VP of Government Affairs Al Pscholka to prevent the MSA change should be lauded.