Governor Colyer approves 4 SW Kansas communities as opportunity zones

Topeka, KS(westernkansasnews.com) Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer, M.D. and officials from state government agencies have completed a review of Letters of Interest submitted from communities across the state to be considered for designation as Opportunity Zones.

Opportunity Zones are a new 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. Based upon the number of low-income communities identified by the Federal Census, the Governor may nominate up to 74 census tracts in Kansas for designation as Opportunity Zones.

The Governor approved Dodge City, Finney County, Lane County and Greeley County among others.

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, the Governor has determined that each community who submitted an eligible census tract will be nominated for at least one Opportunity Zone designation. The communities with census tracts to be included in Governor Colyer’s nominations for designation as Opportunity Zones include:
Allen County
Graham County
Osawatomie
Arkansas City
Great Bend
Ottawa
Arma
Greeley County
Parsons
Atchison
Hutchinson
Pittsburg
Belleville
Jewell County
Rooks County
Cloud County
Lane County
Salina
Dodge City
Lawrence
Shawnee
El Dorado
Leavenworth
South Hutchinson
Emporia
Lenexa
Stafford
Finney County
Manhattan
Topeka
Frontenac
Montgomery County
Wichita
Garnett
Norton
Wyandotte County
Goodland
Olathe
Gove County
Osage City

Due to overwhelming interest in the program, Governor Colyer will utilize the available 30-day extension from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to work with local leaders to finalize the specific census tracts designated within each community.

About Opportunity Zones
Opportunity Zones will provide tax incentives for investors who re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds that are dedicated to investing in the Opportunity Zones designated by Governor Colyer. 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 five years. Additional tax incentives are available for investments held for periods of seven and 10 years.

Additional information about the Opportunity Zone program may be found at http://kansascommerce.gov/opportunityzones.
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