The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced that HUD Secretary Ben Carson will be chairing a new council, composed of 13 federal agencies, that will engage with all levels of government on ways to better use taxpayer dollars to revitalize low-income communities. It will work to improve revitalization efforts by streamlining, coordinating, and targeting existing Federal programs to economically distressed areas, including Opportunity Zones. The committee, known as the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council was formed via an Executive Order from President Donald J. Trump.
Charles Tassell, Chief Operating Officer of National REIA, said “In an effort to help streamline reinvestment in America, President Trump has asked Secretary Carson to lead a 13 department team in focusing up to $6T in untapped equity that could rejuvenate impoverished areas through Opportunity Zone tax incentives! Unlike previous zones, the idea behind the Opportunity Zones is to unleash market forces and private money into areas desperately in need of jobs, housing, and business investments…by 2026. If you aren’t looking into these areas now, you are missing out on the ground floor growth potential!”
The information below is from a HUD release dated 12/12/18:
SECRETARY CARSON TO LEAD WHITE HOUSE
OPPORTUNITY AND REVITALIZATION COUNCILCREATING OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL: President Trump is encouraging investment to create opportunity in distressed communities.
- President Trump today is signing an Executive Order establishing the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council.
- The Council will be chaired by Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and comprised of 13 Federal agencies.
- The Council will engage with all levels of government on ways to better use tax payer dollars to revitalize low-income communities.
- The Council will improve revitalization efforts by streamlining, coordinating, and targeting existing Federal programs to economically distressed areas, including Opportunity Zones.
- Lack of coordination and targeting has led to cumbersome applications, program waste, and ineffective benefits.
- The Council will consider legislative proposals and undertake regulatory reform to remove barriers to revitalization efforts.
- The Council will present the President with a number of reports identifying and recommending ways to encourage investment in economically distressed communities.
ENCOURAGING INVESTMENT: Opportunity Zones will spur private investment to revitalize hurting communities and unleash their economic potential.
- In 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which established Opportunity Zones to incentivize long-term investments in low-income communities across the country.
- These incentives offer capital gains tax relief to investors for new investment in designated Opportunity Zones.
- Opportunity Zones are anticipated to spur $100 billion in private capital investment.
- Incentivizing investment in low-income communities fosters economic revitalization and job creation and promotes sustainable economic growth across the Nation.
LIFTING UP COMMUNITIES: Opportunity Zones help drive economic growth and lift up communities that have been left behind.
- Opportunity Zones are a powerful vehicle for bringing economic growth and job creation to the American communities that need them the most.
- On average, the median family income in an Opportunity Zone is 37% below the state median.
- The average poverty rate in an Opportunity Zone is 32%, compared to the national rate of 17%.
- There are approximately are approximately 760,000 persons living in public housing within Opportunity Zones.
- 8,761 communities in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories have been designated as Opportunity Zones.
- Nearly 35 million Americans live in communities designated as Opportunity Zones.
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