On Tuesday, the federal Office of Management and Budget released its 2020 Standards for Delineating Core Based Statistical Areas, and the City of Gadsden will retain its status as a Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The City of Gadsden was one seven cities in Alabama that would have been affected by a proposed increase in the minimum urban population needed to qualify as a Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The City receives more than $1 million per year in entitlement funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, and a loss of status could have significantly reduced that funding.

Gadsden and many other local public service agencies depend on CDBG funding to assist local residents in lower-income areas with issues like street paving, housing rehabilitation and repair and more.

“We’re glad to be able to continue to receive this crucial funding, and we’d like to thank everyone who spoke out against these suggested changes,” said Gadsden Mayor Sherman Guyton.

Some of those who vocally opposed the change included Sen. Tommy Tuberville and other bipartisan members of Congress, The Gadsden-Etowah Industrial Development Authority, The Chamber of Gadsden & Etowah County and other cities across the state and nation.