The National League of Cities (NLC) recently released a new opportunity zone guide for cities.
Opportunity Zones provide local and national investors with a package of tax incentives to encourage investment in economically distressed communities around the country.
In 2019, the federal government released additional regulatory guidance which provides more detail about how the program will work for investors. The updated regulatory guidance clearly identifies that the opportunity zones program can support entrepreneurship and small business ownership as well as real estate investment. While the program is almost certainly going to be deployed primarily around real estate, new business creation is critical for the economic vitality of cities.
This guide offers broad strategies to help municipal leaders and local elected officials take full advantage of the program, as well as clear definitions of the rules governing opportunity zones.