Just as Minot is on the cusp of achieving a long-sought goal, a federal proposal to double the defined size of a Metropolitan Statistical Area would push the prize out of reach.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, this week urged Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Robert Fairweather to reject a recent proposal to change the minimum population to qualify as an MSA from 50,000 to 100,000.

The designation is used in funding formulas for multiple federal programs, as well as in determining geographical regions for federal labor market statistics. This change would have a negative impact on Minot’s effort to achieve MSA status but also on many communities across rural America, including Bismarck and Grand Forks, which could lose the designation they now hold, Hoeven said.

“Adopting this recommendation could negatively impact over 140 metropolitan areas, as well as numerous micropolitan areas that may achieve the MSA status with the release of the 2020 census data,” Hoeven said in a news release. “This change would not only impact federal labor market statistics, which help inform the decisions of local governments, business leaders, real estate developers and social service providers, it would directly affect the federal funding that communities receive for infrastructure, housing and other key economic development efforts.”

Hoeven and Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, also signed a bicameral letter led by Sen. John Thune, R-SD, urging OMB to reject the proposal.

“It literally means a loss of thousands of dollars that could have been programmed,” Mayor Shaun Sipma said of the impact on Minot. “We are also concerned that as that metropolitan benchmark is moved, will that also affect other businesses interested in moving, relocating or expanding?”

Once a community reaches MSA status, it typically attracts businesses, helping to promote community growth and jobs.

Sipma noted the proposal would deepen the rural-urban divide in the country

“It creates a substantial disadvantage for rural America,” he said.

Minot’s 2019 estimated population is 48,261, although the Census Bureau acknowledges estimates become more inaccurate the more removed from the last official census. Minot’s 2010 census had shown more growth than previous years’ estimates had indicated. The 2020 Census numbers are to be released later this year.