The St. Cloud MSA is composed of Stearns and Benton counties. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses Census data on income and property values to determine the spending limit for the subsidized loan programs, said Mark Bragelman, senior vice president of Liberty Savings Bank. New MSA designations probably won't be known until 2003. A number of county human services programs will be affected by the new Census data. Population numbers are used to calculate how much money each state gets in block grants for foster care, early childhood development, substance abuse treatment, adoption assistance and nutrition programs for women and children.
State agencies calculate what portion of aid each county gets.
Population is one factor in a formula. Other factors could include the number of unwed mothers living in a county or the number of children living in poverty, she said. That's about 15 percent of the county' public health budget, said Julie Ring, community health management specialist for the Minnesota Department of Health. It' a noticeable part. State-administered Medicaid programs also are based on Census data.