[BoulderCouncilHotline] Questions about the proposed OZ Moratorium

[Grano, Jill]

Dear Staff, Cohncil, and HOTLINE followers,

Many of these questions are for staff and given the late hour of this email, please feel free to answer these at the meeting tomorrow:

1. Many assets (whether real property, businesses, or business assets) within the Opportunity Zone will not qualify for investment from Opportunity Zone Funds (O-Funds) or will choose not to use O-Funds for one reason or another. Are these assets exempt from the moratorium?  Will these assets be exempt from future land use regulation changes?  Significant land use changes made with the assumption that all assets will be using O-Fund money could cripple assets using their own funds or traditional investment vehicles.

2. As any of us close to local business owners can attest, many locally-owned small and medium sized businesses in Boulder - those in the natural foods sector, tech companies, and many more - often seek equity infusions to grow their business. Are there any exemptions for these businesses or will they, too, be subject to the moratorium?

3.  I have records of many sales in this census tract within the year prior to this tract becoming an Opportunity Zone. If even one third of these new owners have been working on plans and fundraising assuming our present land use code (but have not yet submitted ... like The Hopper has been doing, for example), then we will be causing significant financial damage to these owners by imposing a moratorium.  Is there any accommodation for those who fit this description?  We have heard from some of them already, but given that this moratorium was only proposed 8 days ago, many of these owners have no idea what’s about to happen to them.

4. Experts do not expect an immediate infusion of O-Fund cash into Opportunity Zones. There are many reasons for this, the top two being: 1. Final regulations have not even been handed down by the IRS.  2. Investors in O-Funds will want to know what the underlying assets and their risks and potential are (which requires significant work by the asset, unless it’s a business with a pitch ready to go) before they choose an O-Fund. I need a much clearer explanation from staff at how this possibly constitutes an emergency to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the City.

Best,

Jill Adler Grano
Boulder City Council
303-917-6810

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high. Where knowledge is free. Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls. Where words come out from the depth of truth. Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection. Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary sand of dead habit. Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action. Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.” - Tagore
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.ci.boulder.co.us/pipermail/bouldercouncilhotline/attachments/20181218/80e0f95c/attachment.html