City of Cayce Receives Opportunity Zone Designation

CAYCE, SC – The City of Cayce is excited to announce that Governor Henry McMaster has designated an area in Cayce to be nominated as an Opportunity Zone. Opportunity Zones are a new community development program established by Congress as a part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The area selected is census tract 202.01, commonly known as the Avenues. The area is bounded by Knox Abbott to the north, 12^th Street to the east, Railroad Street to the south and the Congaree River to the west.

Opportunity Zones are designed to encourage long-term private investments. This program provides a federal tax incentive for taxpayers who reinvest unrealized capital gains into “Opportunity Funds,” which are specialized avenues dedicated to investing in the “Opportunity Zones.” The intent of the designation is to focus on the following areas:

·  Promoting economic vitality.

· Funding the development of workforce and affordable housing in areas with escalating prices and inventory shortages.

· Funding new infrastructure to support population and economic growth.

· Investing in startup businesses who have potential for rapid increases in scale.

· Upgrading the capability of existing underutilized assets through capital improvement investments.

The Opportunity Zone program offers investors the following incentives for putting their capital to work in low-income communities:

· Investors can roll existing capital gains into Opportunity Funds with no up-front tax bill.

·  A 5 year holding increases the rolled-over capital gains basis by 10%.

·  A 7 year holding increases the rolled-over capital gain investment basis 5% for a total of 15%.

·  Investors can defer their original tax bill until December 31, 2026 at the latest, or until they sell their Opportunity Fund investments, if earlier.

· Opportunity fund investments held in the fund for at least 10 years are not taxed for capital gains.

“The members of Cayce City Council and I hope that the Opportunity Zone designation will continue to incentivize growth and mobilize our efforts to revitalize and redevelop our City. We look forward to reaching out to prospective businesses to tell them about these investment opportunities in Cayce,” stated Elise Partin, Mayor of the City of Cayce.

To learn more about South Carolina Opportunity Zones, visit www.scopportunityzone.com.

Please stay up-to-date with the City of Cayce by visiting our website,www.caycesc.gov, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.