This layer is published from the Department of Community Affairs to show Federally designated Opportunity Zones.The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have designated Opportunity Zones in 18 States, including 260 census tracts in the State of Georgia. Economic investment in these areas, which are some of the most distressed communities in the country, may now be eligible for preferential tax treatment. These new Federal Opportunity Zones are intended to facilitate investment in areas where poverty rates are greater than 20 percent.“This designation will enable some of our state’s struggling communities to attract much-needed private sector investment,” said DCA Commissioner Christopher Nunn. “By giving an economic ‘shot in the arm’ to these communities, the goal is to boost investment where it’s most urgently needed.”Georgia’s 260 zones, located in 83 counties, represent some of the most concentrated poverty in the state and are found in both rural and metropolitan areas, with approximately 60% rural and 40% urban. Qualified Opportunity Zones retain this designation for 10 years. Investors can defer tax on any prior gains until no later than December 31, 2026, so long as the gain is reinvested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund, an investment vehicle organized to make investments in Qualified Opportunity Zones. In addition, if the investor holds the investment in the Opportunity Fund for at least ten years, the investor would be eligible for an increase in its basis equal to the fair market value of the investment on the date that it is sold.Treasury and the IRS plan to issue additional information on Qualified Opportunity Funds to address the certification of Opportunity Funds, which are required to have at least 90 percent of fund assets invested in Opportunity Zones. DCA will communicate additional information about the specifics of the program as it is released by Treasury. Interactive map of designated Opportunity Zones.Additional information on Opportunity Zones.View a full list of Georgia’s designated census tracts, by county.Click here for FAQs.About the Georgia Department of Community AffairsThe Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) partners with communities to create a climate of success for Georgia’s families and businesses through community and economic development, local government assistance, and safe and affordable housing. Using state and federal resources, DCA helps communities spur private job creation, implement planning, develop downtowns, generate affordable housing solutions, and promote volunteerism. DCA also helps qualified low- and moderate-income Georgians buy homes, rent housing, and prevent foreclosure and homelessness. For more information, visit www.dca.ga.gov.

Section 1400Z–1(b)(1)(A) of the Code allowed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of each State to nominate a limited number of population census tracts to be designated as Zones for purposes of §§ 1400Z–1 and 1400Z–2. Revenue Procedure 2018–16, 2018–9 I.R.B. 383, provided guidance to State CEOs on the eligibility criteria and procedure for making these nominations. Section 1400Z–1(b)(1)(B) of the Code provides that after the Secretary receives notice of the nominations, the Secretary may certify the nominations and designate the nominated tracts as Zones.

Section 1400Z–2 of the Code allows the temporary deferral of inclusion in gross income for certain realized gains to the extent that corresponding amounts are timely invested in a qualified opportunity fund. Investments in a qualified opportunity fund may also be eligible for additional tax benefits. To learn more about Qualified Opportunity Zones visit: https://www.cdfifund.gov/opportunity-zones, for questions about the spatial attribution of this dataset, please reach out to us at GISHelpdesk@hud.gov. Date of Coverage: 12/2019Data Dictionary: DD Opportunity Zone Eligible Census Tracts

Map of the Qualified Opportunity Zones in the City of Detroit. Data provided by the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) on the City of Detroit Open Data Portal, by census tract. Updated March 2018.

Qualified Opportunity Zones are a new community development program established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. This program encourages new, long-term investment in property or businesses in specific areas around the City through federal tax incentives for investors. To take advantage of the program, investors must reinvest new capital gains into Qualified Opportunity Funds which are spent in Qualified Opportunity Zones.https://www.columbus.gov/development/economic-development/Opportunity-Zone-Programhttps://opportunityzones.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/ooz/home

An Opportunity Zone is generally an economically distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Localities qualified as Opportunity Zones if they were nominated for that designation by the State or Territory and that nomination was certified by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury via his delegation of that authority to the Internal Revenue Service. There are 8,764 Opportunity Zones in the United States, many of which have experienced a lack of investment for decades.The Opportunity Zone tax incentive will spur capital investment and economic development in low-income communities. First, investors can defer the taxation of certain prior gains invested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) until the earlier of the date on which the investment in the QOF is sold or exchanged, or December 31, 2026. Second, if the QOF investment is held for at least 5 years, 10% of the gain that was originally deferred is eliminated completely. If the QOF investment is held for at least 7 years, an additional 5% (15% total) of the original deferred gain is eliminated completely. Third, if the investor holds the QOF investment at least ten years, when the investor sells or exchanges the investment, the investor is eligible to eliminate the gain on the QOF investment from any increase in value of the QOF investment during the investor’s holding period

This dataset contains the census tracts selected as Virginia’s 212 designated qualified Opportunity Zones.

Additional Resources:

Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development

Pinellas County Economic Development Opportunity Zones in Pinellas County, Florida. NOTE: This item has been deprecated and will no longer be accessible after December 31st, 2025. Please use the following ArcGIS Online item as it’s replacement:Pinellas_OpportunityZones https://pinellas-egis.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=11018736cb7a433b863a233e54814951

Opportunity Zones map of the City of Mobile. Size 36x48 / Format PDF. Updated as needed.Summary and Descripton of Opportunity Zones Data:2018 State of Alabama U.S. Census Tracts designated as Opportunity Zones in Mobile County.The areas eligible for submission as Opportunity Zones are low-income census tracts with a poverty rate of at least 20 percent and a median family income of less than 80 percent of the statewide or area median income. Source: The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA).

Qualified opportunity zone designations for census tracts in Alaska as of June 14, 2018. Census tract designation as a QOZ is determined for purposes of §§ 1400Z–1 and 1400Z–2 of the Internal Revenue Code. These areas have been determined economically distressed. Under the designation, new investments in these areas may qualify for tax incentives. Opportunity Zones were initially created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of December 22, 2017.Source: United States Internal Revenue ServiceThis data is provided as a service in the DCRA Information Portal by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development Division of Community and Regional Affairs (SOA DCCED DCRA), Research and Analysis section. SOA DCCED DCRA Research and Analysis is not the authoritative source for this data. For more information and for questions about this data, see: IRS Opportunity Zones FAQ

A story map summarizing the WVU owned property in designated opportunity zones.

How Does 1930-1940 Land Use Policy Affect Our Communities Today, and Can Qualified Opportunity Zones Be Used to Remedy the Problem?HOLC Redlining Practicesn the 1930s-1940s, the U.S. government created the Home Owners' Loan Corporation to provide loans to families at risk of foreclosing on their mortgages. HOLC created maps of cities with populations of 40,000 or above to grade areas on the perceived risk of loan default. The maps contained racist evaluations of land tracts. Although there is no evidence of HOLC loans being denied to people of color, their assessments were shared with the FHA, National Board of Realtors, and Lenders. There is substantial evidence that these organizations used a similar grading technique to deny home loans to non-white families. This historic lending practice of denying loans and economic opportunities to people of color and economic disadvantage is called "Redlining," due to the fact that the lowest-grade HOLC areas were outlined in red. This map contains the HOLC grading layer, provided by the Esri Living Atlas, in which Graded maps for 149 U.S. cities can be found. Map grades are opaque red, yellow, green, and blue to designate HOLC grading levels on the map.Current Community Indicators of DisadvantageIn 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14008, which did several things. One of these things was to create a screening tool to identify communities disproportionately impacted by climate change and economic hardship. The purpose of this tool, the Justice 40 Initiative, is to identify communities in need of economic and environmental assistance. It was created in 2022 by the Council on Environmental Quality. In the map, this layer is the Justice 40 Initiative Layer. Disadvantaged areas are shaded in transparent grey/blue.Qualified Opportunity ZonesThe 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act designates thousands of "Opportunity Zones" in which investment is incentivized to help create jobs and strengthen low-income areas. Under this act, states may designate up to 1/4 of low-income census tracts as Opportunity Zones. However, not all are located in low-income areas. In 2022, the Opportunity Zones Transparency, Extension, and Improvement Act was introduced in Congress but failed to become law. The Qualified Opportunity Zones layer designates Opportunity Zones in transparent pink shading. Questions to consider:What areas on the map show overlap between formerly HOLC Redlined grades and current Justice 40 "Disadvantaged" evaluations? How could past discriminatory practices have shaped communities into what we see today?What "Disadvantaged" areas overlap with "Qualified Opportunity Zones"? Is the Opportunity Zone program being well utilized to boost economic and social well-being in disadvantaged communities?This map contains 3 layers:1. HOLC Graded areas 1930-19402. Justice 40 Initiative -Climate and Justice Screening Tool for Disadvantaged Communities (2022)3. Qualified Opportunity Zones in effect now, created in 2017All data links for this map were taken from the Esri Living Atlas, with additional information from the University of Richmond Mapping Inequality Project.

This data is used for the planning and management of Washington by local government agencies. To create economic development zones to assist in stimulating the expansion of commercial and industrial businesses, long-term employment, and homeownership in disadvantaged areas of the District and to amend the District of Columbia Real Property Tax Revision Act of 1974, An Act Relating to the levying and collecting of taxes and assessments, and for other purposes, An Act To provide for the abatement of nuisances in the District of Columbia by the Commissioners of said District, and for other purposes, the District of Columbia Public Works Act of 1954, the District of Columbia Income and Franchise Tax Act of 1947, and the Lower Income Home ownership Tax Abatement and Incentive Act of 1983 to make conforming amendments.

The Economic Development web map is used to author the Economic Development Experience Builder application. It displays the economic development districts, enterprise zones, industrial areas, economic development zones, Baton Rouge Airport property, and Louisiana Opportunity Zones data in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.

Recognizing that many small, rural downtown areas have experienced varying levels of economic distress, DCA worked with the Georgia General Assembly to secure passage of a bill calling for the development of “Rural Zones.” The establishment of up to 10 zones per year will enable businesses and investors to obtain tax credits for qualified activities occurring within designated Rural Zones. DCA, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, will receive applications and designate zones each year to provide an incentive for job creation and private investment in the designated locations.Rural Zones informationThis designation shall last for five consecutive years upon approval of the Commissioners.This layer is used in map(s): Federal Opportunity Zones and Job Tax Credit Incentives

Polygon geometry with attributes displaying economic development zones in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.Metadata

The dataset contains locations and attributes of High Tech Development Zone from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development identified in the Technology Sector Enhancement Act of 2012.

The District of Columbia offers a wide variety of incentives for businesses looking to locate or expand their business in the nation’s capital. Locate the geographic areas in the city that offer incentives for Enterprise Zones, Hub Zones, Supermarket Tax Credit Zones and more. As the District’s lead economic agency, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development encourages businesses to pursue those incentives and programs that best fit their business. Agency Website.

Areas of Raleigh Targeted for Economic Development.

Introduced in 1993, the Empowerment Zone Initiative, along with Enterprise Community Initiative and Renewal Community Initiative, sought to reduce unemployment and generate economic growth through the designation of Federal tax incentives and award of grants to distressed communities. Local, Tribal and State government interested in participating in this program were required to present comprehensive plans that included the principles of: Strategic Visions for change, Community-Based Partnerships, Economic Opportunities and Sustainable Community Development. Communities selected to participate in this program embraced these principles and lef projects that promoted economic development in their distressed communities.This is a MD iMAP hosted service. Find more information at https://imap.maryland.gov.Feature Service Link:https://mdgeodata.md.gov/imap/rest/services/BusinessEconomy/MD_IncentiveZones/FeatureServer/8

This is a MD iMAP hosted service. Find more information at http://imap.maryland.gov. The Communities of Opportunity designated on the Maryland QAP Comprehensive Opportunity Maps are based on a 'Composite Opportunity Index' developed by DHCD. The Composite Opportunity Index uses publicly - available data and is based on three major factors: community health - economic opportunity - and educational opportunity. To be designated a Community of Opportunity - and mapped as such to the Maryland QAP Comprehensive Opportunity Maps - the community must have a Composite Opportunity Index that it is above the statewide average. See Section 3.1 of the Program Guide for more details. http://mdhousing.org/Website/Programs/rhf/documents/Guide.pdf Last Updated: 03/2016Feature Service Link:https://mdgeodata.md.gov/imap/rest/services/BusinessEconomy/MD_HousingDesignatedAreas/FeatureServer ADDITIONAL LICENSE TERMS: The Spatial Data and the information therein (collectively "the Data") is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind either expressed implied or statutory. The user assumes the entire risk as to quality and performance of the Data. No guarantee of accuracy is granted nor is any responsibility for reliance thereon assumed. In no event shall the State of Maryland be liable for direct indirect incidental consequential or special damages of any kind. The State of Maryland does not accept liability for any damages or misrepresentation caused by inaccuracies in the Data or as a result to changes to the Data nor is there responsibility assumed to maintain the Data in any manner or form. The Data can be freely distributed as long as the metadata entry is not modified or deleted. Any data derived from the Data must acknowledge the State of Maryland in the metadata.