Opportunity Zones

The U.S. Department of Treasury has officially certified Governor Jeff Colyer’s nomination of 74 census tracts to be designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones and has designated those tracts as such. The approved Opportunity Zones, a new economic development tool enacted by the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, will offer local citizens the opportunity to invest back into their communities and proactively be a part of the solution to problems such as population decline, lack of jobs, and crumbling infrastructure.

For the investor, the Opportunity Zone program offers tax incentives to citizens who re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds dedicated to investing in designated census tracts. The program provides deferral and reduction of capital gains taxes when the gain is invested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund and maintained for at least five years. Additional tax incentives are available for investments held for periods of seven and 10 years. The Internal Revenue Services is expected to issue guidance on Opportunity Funds this summer.

Ford County was awarded the following zones:

  • 20057961800 Ford

  • 20057962101 Ford

In February, the Kansas Department of Commerce announced it would begin accepting Letters of Interest from communities to have their eligible low-income census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones. Following the review of submissions, Gov. Colyer determined that each community who submitted an eligible census tract would be nominated for at least one Opportunity Zone designation.

Opportunity Zones are an economic development tool enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 designed to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities.

This provides incentives to investors to move capital off the sidelines and into projects, which will stimulate the Kansas economy.

This program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds that are dedicated to investing in economically distressed areas designated as Opportunity Zones by the Governor.

The program provides deferral and reduction of capital gains taxes when the gain is invested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund and maintained for at least 5 years. Additional tax incentives are available for investments held for periods of seven years and 10 years.

Based upon the number of low-income communities identified by the Federal Census, the Governor can designate 74 census tracts in Kansas communities as Opportunity Zones. Census tract eligibility is based upon population and income.

Eligible low-income communities are defined as:

  • Tracts in which the poverty rate is at least 20 percent, or

  • Tracts in which the median family income does not exceed 80 percent of the statewide median family income if located outside of a metropolitan area, or

  • Tracts in which the median family income does not exceed 80 percent of the statewide median family income or the metropolitan area median family income, whichever is higher.

In addition to the federal eligibility criteria, the State considered several other factors in determining which census tracts to designate as Opportunity Zones. These factors included an indication of community interest and support for additional investment, the potential of at least one “ready to go” or otherwise identifiable project, and that the identified project addressed one of the following target uses: industrial/business development, housing, or agriculture.

Joann Knight