GAO has a new report Rural Economic Development: More Assurance Is Needed That Grant Funding Information Is Accurately Reported (with an online component with more charts) on the distribution of federal grants for economic development – looking specifically at urban vs rural recipients. If you take a look at the info, you’ll probably be surprised to see that 42% of the USDA’s economic development funds go to urban areas in spite of the fact that many of the programs have the word rural in them. The problem, according to GAO is one of reporting. There’s no consistent definition of rural, and not every agency and program reports data the same way. From the report:
Exactly how much assistance rural areas receive from the various economic development programs depends on how "rural" is defined, a definition which is constantly changing as advances in transportation, computer technology, and telecommunications —- along with the spread of suburbia —- continue to blur many of the distinctions between rural and urban life.
The supplemental report provides detailed charts on spending patterns by agency, state, county and program for the economic development programs identified in the report. Spending for each program is shown in total covering fiscal years 2002, 2003 and 2004.
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