Mansfield has many investment opportunities from these zones

By: Antho­ny Zepperi
April 23, 2019
Online Jour­nal­ism UConn

Of the 27 towns in Con­necti­cut with a fed­er­al­ly des­ig­nat­ed oppor­tu­ni­ty zone, Mans­field is the only rur­al town. 

Oppor­tu­ni­ty zones are pri­vate­ly owned areas of a par­tic­u­lar town where invest­ments in devel­op­ment can be made. They are des­ig­nat­ed by the town  in areas lack­ing eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment, Mans­field is the only rur­al zone in Con­necti­cut because it does not come with­in a rur­al boundary.

The fed­er­al tax ben­e­fits that these zones offer are sus­pend­ing cap­i­tal gains inclu­sion in income and a per­ma­nent exclu­sion from tax­able income of cap­i­tal gains from the sale of an invest­ment in the zones, Court­ney Hen­dric­son, Vice Pres­i­dent of Munic­i­pal Ser­vices, for the Con­necti­cut Eco­nom­ic Resource Cen­ter, said.

A cap­i­tal gains tax is a tax lev­el on cap­i­tal gains, which are prof­its from the sales of speci­fici­ties types of assets, includ­ing stocks, bonds, pre­cious medals and real estate.

This would ben­e­fit a devel­op­er because tax pay­ments are deferred until the asset is sold thus let­ting investors pay tax­es dur­ing the year those invest­ments get sold for prof­its, accord­ing to Hendricson.

Mans­field Demo­c­ra­t­ic Town Coun­cil Mem­ber Ter­ry Berth­elot said that there could be an increase in var­i­ous development.

“”There is a chance that there would be more restau­rants and hous­ing from these oppor­tu­ni­ty zones,” Berth­elot said.

These zones were cre­at­ed from a 2017 tax law signed by Pres­i­dent Don­ald J. Trump that uses tax advan­tages to lure cap­i­tal to areas lack­ing eco­nom­ic development. 

Mans­field Town Coun­cil Mem­ber Ronald Schurin, a Demo­c­rat, said that there can be many dif­fer­ent busi­ness­es cre­at­ed in these zones.

“”There can be oppor­tu­ni­ty for an increase in hous­ing invest­ments and com­mer­cial devel­op­ment,” Schurin said.

It is expect­ed to spur devel­op­ment since the uni­ver­si­ty is an anchor insti­tu­tion, Hen­dric­son said.

“”These zones are an incen­tive for investors to defer and elim­i­nate cap­i­tal gains in cer­tain zones,” Hen­dric­son said. “These are zones based on cen­sus tract and those can be invest­ments made in real estate, busi­ness or infrastructure.”

There is also con­tro­ver­sy with the zones regard­ing cor­po­rate wel­fare and lots of fee waivers for businesses.

How many oppor­tu­ni­ty zones in The Unit­ed States?

There are 9,000 oppor­tu­ni­ty zones in The Unit­ed States, includ­ing 72 zones in 27  Con­necti­cut towns, Hen­dric­son said. 

The four oppor­tu­ni­ty zones in Mans­field were first pro­posed in August of last year and approved in Sep­tem­ber of the same year.

Some oth­er Con­necti­cut cities that have an oppor­tu­ni­ty zone des­ig­na­tion are Water­bury, Hart­ford, and New Haven. Like Mans­field, those zones have spurred busi­ness devel­op­ment as well.

The zones are locat­ed at UConn’s Mans­field Depot Cam­pus, UConn Tech­nol­o­gy Park, Four Cor­ners and the North Eagleville Road and Hill­side Road inter­sec­tion as seen in the map above.

The next sto­ry: “UConn sup­port”