On April 14, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the final round of designated Opportunity Zones in 4 additional states. Established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Congress created the new community development program that encourages long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities. The Opportunity Zone Program provides tax incentives for investors to re-invest unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds. Opportunity Funds are private sector investment vehicles that invest at least 90 percent of their capital in Opportunity Zones. This new program has the potential to be an important, viable program for housing and community development agencies.

According to the Department of the Treasury, nearly 35 million Americans live in the communities designated as Opportunity Zones, and designated census tracts  had an average poverty rate of over 32 percent.

The final round of submissions were approved for: Florida; Nevada; Pennsylvania; and Utah.