Sixty-two communities across Iowa are now qualified for the federal government’s new Opportunity Zones program. The initiative is meant to spark development in certain low-income neighborhoods by deferring taxes for investors. Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, says the effort has great potential.
Under the program, people can defer taxes on certain capital gains if they invest in the opportunity zones, selected tracts that have higher poverty levels or lower family incomes. Alan Kemp, with the Iowa League of Cities, says this kind of targeted investment in disadvantaged neighborhoods is novel.
Kemp says the success of the new federal program relies on how it’s implemented. The U.S. Treasury Department is still developing rules for investors and local agencies.
