Two areas of Leflore County have been selected as Opportunity Zones by the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service and are among 100 chosen statewide to help spur economic growth in the state.
Opportunity Zones are areas where private investors can earn tax relief through investments made in these zones, according to a press release from the Mississippi Development Authority.
Angela Curry, executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board, said she submitted eight census tracts to the Gov. Phil Bryant’s office.
The two areas chosen include Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Park and Sidon.
“Every census tract in Leflore County qualifies and was submitted to the governor’s office for consideration. I am pleased that Governor Bryant and his staff chose two tracts in Leflore County,” she said in an email.
“This community is poised for continued growth in our industrial park and hopefully will witness new investment in the Sidon area — an area in dire need of assistance.”
Opportunity Zone designations will remain in effect for 10 years, and the longer the investments, the more the tax benefits will increase, the release said.
The program was created through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Tracts were chosen based on a 20 percent poverty rate or more as well or family income of less than 80 percent of the area’s median income.
According to Curry, the idea is to “encourage investments in economically distressed and high poverty areas.”
All states were able to nominate 25 percent of the eligible tracts within a state, and Mississippi had 399 eligible census tracts, according to the release.
“Opportunity Zones in Mississippi will attract significant private sector investment, help grow our state’s economy and create new jobs,” the governor said in the press re-lease.
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