[BoulderCouncilHotline] Opportunity Zone Questions for December 18

[Young, Mary]

Dear Staff,

As briefly discussed at our November 27 Study Session, below are my questions regarding Opportunity Zones:

1. Since the city applied for and received OZ designation, how have the implementation processes changed or evolved? What additional information has been released? 

2. Has the city been in touch with other municipalities to share information? If so, what has been learned?

3. How will OZ financing interact with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and any other state or federal affordable housing programs?

4.  The March 30 Heads Up mentions that OZ designation could provide funding for affordable commercial. How does OZ designation enable this?

5. Is it possible for a community to set conditions specific to redevelopment financed by OZ capital funds? If so, what can or cannot be done?

6. Are there any limitations as to what zoning and regulatory powers may be applied to achieve desired community outcomes? Can these powers be limited to only the OZ area, i . e. the census tract?

7. Can communities have a say as to which Opportunity Funds redevelopment in their communities can be financed by? Will lists of these funds be made available?

8. Who derives the most benefits from OZs? Who derives the least? Will displacement occur (business or residential)? 

9. Adequate data fields to determine efficacy of the program were left out of the enabling legislation. What actions could the city take to make up for this omission? Can local governments identify and ensure that qualified investors operate according to conditions set locally (other than zoning and regulatory) such as scoring investments on social impact, leveraging of philanthropy, and financing structure that makes social AND financial sense?

10. What timelines are investors operating under? Are there incentives to act within specified windows? If so, what are the incentives and timelines?

11. Would it be feasible to form a coalition of municipalities interested in similar outcomes for their respective communities in order to lobby for changes?

12. As we move through this discussion, please consider and note how managing this issue affects the Council work plan for further consideration at a later date.

Thank you very much for your willingness to take up this matter sooner rather than later.

Kindly,

Mary Dolores Young
Boulder City Council
303-501-2439

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” ~Martin Luther King Jr.