U.S. Treasury Department approves 74 census tracts Governor Colyer nominated as Opportunity Zones

TOPEKA – The U.S. Department of Treasury has officially certified Governor Jeff Colyer’s nomination of 74 census tracts to be designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones and has designated those tracts as such. The approved Opportunity Zones, a new economic development tool enacted by the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, will offer local citizens the opportunity to invest back into their communities and proactively be a part of the solution to problems such as population decline, lack of jobs, and crumbling infrastructure.

For the investor, the Opportunity Zone program offers tax incentives to citizens who re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds dedicated to investing in designated census tracts. 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. The Internal Revenue Service is expected to issue guidance on Opportunity Funds this summer.

The specific census tracts and their counties designated by the U.S. Treasury as Opportunity Zones are:

20001952900 Allen
20003953600 Anderson
20005081900 Atchison
20009971400 Barton
20009971700 Barton
20015020400 Butler
20029977200 Cloud
20035493700 Cowley
20035493800 Cowley
20037956600 Crawford
20037956900 Crawford
20037957500 Crawford
20037957600 Crawford
20045000200 Douglas
20045000400 Douglas
20055960501 Finney
20055960600 Finney
20057961800 Ford
20057962101 Ford
20059954200 Franklin
20059954400 Franklin
20063955100 Gove
20063955200 Gove
20065952100 Graham
20071958100 Greeley
20089576100 Jewell
20089576200 Jewell
20091052102 Johnson
20091052417 Johnson
20091053555 Johnson
20091053557 Johnson
20091053601 Johnson
20099950400 Labette
20101956600 Lane
20103070100 Leavenworth
20111000500 Lyon
20121100700 Miami
20125950200 Montgomery
20125951200 Montgomery
20125951300 Montgomery
20137951700 Norton
20139010400 Osage
20155000600 Reno
20155000700 Reno
20155001000 Reno
20155001300 Reno
20157978300 Republic
20161000500 Riley
20161000801 Riley
20161001100 Riley
20163974600 Rooks
20163974700 Rooks
20169000100 Saline
20169000600 Saline
20173000400 Sedgwick
20173000900 Sedgwick
20173001100 Sedgwick
20173002600 Sedgwick
20173003200 Sedgwick
20173003700 Sedgwick
20173003800 Sedgwick
20173004300 Sedgwick
20173006300 Sedgwick
20177000700 Shawnee
20177000800 Shawnee
20177004000 Shawnee
20181453700 Sherman
20185470600 Stafford
20209041800 Wyandotte
20209042200 Wyandotte
20209043905 Wyandotte
20209044101 Wyandotte
20209045100 Wyandotte
20209045200 Wyandotte

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, Governor Colyer determined that each community who submitted an eligible census tract would be nominated for at least one Opportunity Zone designation. After a thorough review process involving multiple state government agencies, Governor Colyer submitted the 74 census tracts to the U.S. Department of Treasury for consideration on April 18.

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