Vermilion County has received good news about getting future funds from the federal government. Congresswoman Mary Miller says the Office of Budget and Management has decided it will not change the guidelines for Metropolitan Statistical Areas. It had been considering requiring changing the minimum population requirement for Metropolitan Statistical Areas from 50,000 to 100,000 people.
Tim Dudley, President and CEO of Vermilion Advantage, says the Danville Area MSA has around 76,000 residents. Dudley says it is great news that the rules will not be changed because it would have meant a loss of federal funding for road, infrastructure and other causes in the county. Now those federal funds coming into the county will remain intact. And the decision which has been made is good for ten years.
Dudley added it was ‘’a great team effort’’ to keep the Danville Area MSA intact. He says Vermilion Advantage, the City of Danville, and Vermilion County all worked with Congresswoman Miller and Congressman Rodney Davis to ask that the current population guidelines remain intact. Representative Davis’ district includes Decatur which would have also been impacted by the proposed change. The Carbondale-Marion and Kankakee areas would have also been affected.
