Opportunity Zones were created under the 2017 Federal Investing in Opportunities Act and are designed to encourage economic growth and job creation in economically distressed communities. To accomplish this, Opportunity Zones offer investors three tax incentives:

1. Temporary deferral: An investor can defer capital gains taxes until 2026 by investing and holding unrealized gains in a Qualified Opportunity Fund, a partnership or corporation organized to invest in designated Opportunity Zones.
2. Tax reduction: The original amount of capital gains on which an investor has to pay deferred taxes is reduced by 10% if the Opportunity Fund investment is held for more than 5 years and another 5% if held for more than 7 years, for a total of 15%.
3. An exemption: Any capital gains on investments made through an Opportunity Fund accrue tax-free as long as the investor holds them for at least 10 years. For investments held longer than 10 years and upon a sale or disposition of the investment, the investor is allowed to elect the basis in the investment to quality to the fair market value of the investment.

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Brownfield redevelopment is necessary for Tigard to become a more livable, walkable and economically resilient community with fewer environmental health risks. This program offers grant funding to help remediate environmentally contaminated occupied, vacant and/or underutilized properties for redevelopment.

 A "brownfield" is generally defined in federal and state law as: real property where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by the actual, potential, or perceived presence of environmental contamination. The State of Oregon and Federal Government have some resources to address this issue.