Bracken County court authorizes Buffalo Trace to submit Opportunity Zone application

Christy Dodge of Buffalo Trace told the Bracken County Fiscal Court that the federal and state governments are accepting a new round of Opportunity Zone designations organized by census tract, not county boundaries. She said the designations last 10 years and are intended to attract private capital by offering federal tax incentives such as capital-gains deferment and tax-free growth for investments held at least a decade.

The application process requires a local unit of government to apply to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, which will recommend up to 136 census tracts statewide to the governor for his federal recommendation. Dodge said the cabinet’s application asks for tract-level socioeconomic data and information on build-ready or shovel-ready sites; the state deadline for local submissions is Friday the 12th and the incentives would start for investments in 2027.

Magistrate Craig Miller moved to authorize Buffalo Trace to submit an application on behalf of Bracken County; John Scott seconded. The motion passed on a unanimous roll-call vote.

Court members asked whether designation would force property sales; Dodge replied that landowners retain the right to accept or decline offers. She explained that eligibility is based on tract criteria such as median household income and poverty rate, not on road or city boundaries. The court discussed how inclusion of an industrial park inside a designated tract could make private investment there eligible for the federal incentives.

The court did not adopt any local ordinance or financial commitment as part of the vote; the action authorized a third party to submit the county’s application to the state cabinet. The county will receive further notice if the cabinet or governor advances the tract for federal designation.