Opportunity Zones

Opportunity Zones are a community development program established by Congress through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The goal of this program is to stimulate long-term investment in low-income urban and rural communities across the United States. The Opportunity Zones program provides investors with a tax incentive to re-invest their unrealized capital gains in “Opportunity Funds” that are specifically designed to invest in Opportunity Zones.

Opportunity Zones are established based on certain criteria. In addition to being designated by the Governor, these zones must be located in qualified census tracts that meet the required levels of poverty and measures of economic distress.

The KIPDA region is home to 20 Low-Income Community Opportunity Zones and 1 Non-Low-Income Contiguous Zone. Of which, 19 are located in Jefferson County, and 2 located in Bullitt County. These zones provide an excellent opportunity to maximize development in the KIPDA region, allowing project financing to areas where accessing traditional capital otherwise may be challenging. Not only must at least 90 percent of the dollars placed into an Opportunity Fund be spent in the designated Opportunity Zone, but the funds have to be used to meet the community’s needs and can be used to provide repayable loans or equity investments to projects within.