It’s official — Island County is rural

OLYMPIA — Island County doesn’t look any different today than it did yesterday, but a few strokes of the governor’s pen have transformed it from an urban county to a rural one.

Senate Bill 6195, sponsored by Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, was signed into law yesterday, putting into effect a new definition of what constitutes a “rural county” for the purpose of allocating rural economic development resources. The resulting change means that Island County will now have access to an additional $40,000 per year in basic rural funding as well as increased eligibility for other economic development funding programs.

“This might not seem like a big deal for some counties, but it’s huge for Island County,” said Haugen. “I’m really excited to know that Island County is going to see quite a boost in economic development funding simply by acknowledging what everyone knew already — that this is a rural county.”

The Island County Economic Development Commission currently receives $42,136 for their economic development activities, based on a formula that gives 55 cents per inhabitant to every county in the state. Counties that are designated “rural” get an extra $40,000 per year in basic rural funding, as well as enhanced eligibility for other economic development funding programs.

Island County missed out on that extra funding last year when new legislation altered the definition of a “rural county” to include counties with population densities of fewer than 100 people per square mile — which inadvertently left out Island County. Haugen’s legislation revised the definition in such a way that Island County will always qualify for rural economic development funding and programs based on its geography rather than its population density.

“By clarifying the definition of ‘rural county’ in statute, we’re ensuring that Island County will benefit from any future legislation that affects rural counties statewide,” said Haugen. “I’ve worked on this for years, and gotten it fixed for good — this is a very exciting opportunity for Island County.”

According to Sharon Hart, Executive Director of the Island County Economic Development Council, passage of this bill allows Island County to be eligible for additional project funding opportunities for infrastructure, tax incentives for expansion of existing workforce opportunities and accessing business incentives.

“The additional funding Mary Margaret has attached to this designation will create an opportunity for increased services for both Whidbey and Camano Islands,” said Hart. “Budgetary restraints have limited us to a two-person office on Whidbey Island, but we’re hoping that this funding will allow us to have a presence at the county's Camano Annex as well so that we can add a network of business support services to our clients on Camano Island.”

Although the bill does not go into effect until July 1, 2009, Island County has already benefitted from a budget appropriation of $80,000 secured by Haugen to cover fiscal years 2008 and 2009.

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