CHURCH POINT – Stemming from the “Investing in Opportunity Act”, a $7.7 billion bipartisan bill aimed at strengthening economically depressed areas across the United States, opportunity zones offer deferred capital gains taxes and significant tax incentives to those who invest in low-income communities.
Among the 150 zones designated in the State of Louisiana is Church Point.
With a public comment period in March 2018 and collaboration with local, parish and state partners, Gov. John Bel Edwards nominated 150 Louisiana census tracts, with representation in every region of the state. Eligible census tracts were those with poverty rates of at least 20 percent, or those with median family incomes of no more than 80 percent of statewide or metro area family income.
“The process for an area being selected as an opportunity zone was highly competitive,” said Acadiana Planning Commission CEO Monique Boulet. “With only 25 percent of Louisiana’s eligible census tracts able to be designated by Gov. Edwards, APC is grateful to have received a designation for each of its requested areas in each parish of our planning district.”
Coordinating the efforts on recommendations for opportunity zones in the Acadiana region, APC focused on census tracts that were centered along the downtown areas of the region’s municipalities to promote downtown revitalization.
Area downtown revitalization is also a critical goal of the Acadiana region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy which was adopted in 2017 as part of APC’s designation by the Economic Development Administration.
Once the recommended opportunity zones are confirmed by the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Treasury will release guidelines for opportunity funding for private investors to invest in the zones. Long-term, APC will be working with communities to allow local investors to invest back into opportunity zonesthroughout Acadiana.
More information and a map of the designated zones in Louisiana may be seen at https://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/business-incentives/opportunity-zones
Opportunity Zones are a new community development program established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. The Opportunity Zones program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds that are dedicated to investing into Opportunity Zones designated by the chief executives of every U.S. state and territory.
