Today is the deadline for states to submit their “Opportunity Zone” nominations or risk missing out on the tax benefits such designated zones would provide over the next decade.
Locally, Winston-Salem and Forsyth County have submitted their nominations. For background, check out this New York Times write-up and this Winston-Salem Journal write-up where JLF’s own Mitch Kokai weighs in:
“We should be cautious of any government program that allows bureaucrats to choose particular beneficiaries of tax breaks,” Kokai said. “It’s the same argument to be made against targeted tax incentives North Carolina and its local governments offer to favored companies and industries.”
What’s interesting in the NYT article is the description of prospective “opportunity zones” as “an attempt to grapple with a yawning hole in the recovery from the Great Recession,” considering “a disproportionate share of economic growth has been concentrated in so-called superstar metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and New York.”
Two thoughts here: 1) didn’t wonderful Obama fix the Great Recession; and 2) which way do the “superstar metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and New York” vote? Something to ponder while more exciting news grabs the headlines.
