New Jersey Picks Its Opportunity Zones
The Murphy Administration announced it has recommended census tracts within 75 New Jersey towns to the U.S. Department of Treasury for inclusion in the newly-created federal Opportunity Zones Program.
Championed by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tim Scott (R-SC), the 2017 tax reform law incorporated the Opportunity Zones Program to provide federal community development tax incentives and encourage long-term investment in eligible census tracts. The Program allows investors to temporarily defer payment of federal income tax on realized gains if the gains are invested in a qualified Opportunity Fund within 180 days of the date of the particular taxable sale or exchange. In addition, when a taxpayer disposes of an investment in a qualified Opportunity Zone held by the taxpayer for at least 10 years, the taxpayer can elect to exclude from gross income the capital gain on the investment in the Opportunity Zone Fund.
A qualified Opportunity Fund is an investment vehicle that is organized as a partnership or a corporation for the purpose of investing in Opportunity Zone Property. Eligible Opportunity Zone Property generally includes (i) stock in a domestic corporation; (ii) any capital or profits interest in a domestic partnership; and (iii) tangible property used in a trade or business of the Opportunity Fund that substantially improves the property.
The Program is designed so that the Opportunity Fund will invest in new or existing businesses or property in a designated Opportunity Zone, which is a census tract with a poverty rate of 20 percent or a median family income lower than 80 percent of the area average. Census tracts are generally smaller than towns, and some municipalities and cities may have multiple census tracts within them.
Below is the list of New Jersey municipalities with census tracts that were submitted to the federal government for Program inclusion. The Treasury Department must either approve or provide comment on the Administration’s recommendations on or around April 20, 2018. We will also be closely monitoring the Department’s expected announcement in the coming months on the structure of the Opportunity Zones Program.
- Atlantic City (Atlantic County)
- Egg Harbor City (Atlantic County)
- Egg Harbor Twp. (Atlantic County)
- Pleasantville (Atlantic County)
- Somers Point (Atlantic County)
- Cliffside Park (Bergen County)
- Englewood (Bergen County)
- Fairview (Bergen County)
- Garfield (Bergen County)
- Hackensack (Bergen County)
- Lodi (Bergen County)
- South Hackensack (Bergen County)
- Teterboro (Bergen County)
- Burlington City (Burlington County)
- Palmyra (Burlington County)
- Pemberton Twp. (Burlington County)
- Riverside (Burlington County)
- Willingboro (Burlington County)
- Camden City (Camden County)
- Lindenwold (Camden County)
- Pennsauken (Camden County)
- Pine Hill (Camden County)
- Wildwood (Cape May County)
- West Wildwood (Cape May County)
- Lower Twp. (Cape May County)
- Bridgeton (Cumberland County)
- Vineland (Cumberland County)
- Millville (Cumberland County)
- East Orange (Essex County)
- Irvington (Essex County)
- Newark (Essex County)
- Orange (Essex County)
- Deptford (Gloucester County)
- Glassboro (Gloucester County)
- Woodbury (Gloucester County)
- Bayonne (Hudson County)
- Kearny (Hudson County)
- Jersey City (Hudson County)
- North Bergen (Hudson County)
- Union City (Hudson County)
- West New York (Hudson County)
- Flemington (Hunterdon County)
- Trenton (Mercer County)
- Hamilton (Mercer County)
- Carteret (Middlesex County)
- Jamesburg (Middlesex County)
- New Brunswick (Middlesex County)
- Perth Amboy (Middlesex County)
- South River (Middlesex County)
- Asbury Park (Monmouth County)
- Freehold Borough (Monmouth County)
- Long Branch (Monmouth County)
- Neptune City (Monmouth County)
- Neptune Twp. (Monmouth County)
- Red Bank (Monmouth County)
- Dover (Morris County)
- Wharton Borough (Morris County)
- Berkeley (Ocean County)
- Lakewood (Ocean County)
- Manchester (Ocean County)
- Clifton (Passaic County)
- Passaic City (Passaic County)
- Paterson (Passaic County)
- Prospect Park (Passaic County)
- Carney’s Point (Salem County)
- Salem City (Salem County)
- Bound Brook (Somerset County)
- North Plainfield (Somerset County)
- Sussex Borough (Sussex County)
- Elizabeth (Union County)
- Hillside (Union County)
- Plainfield (Union County)
- Linden (Union County)
- Rahway (Union County)
- Phillipsburg (Warren County)