Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lodi staff recommends nominating downtown-area tract for Opportunity Zones 2.0
Summary
City economic-development staff briefed council on Opportunity Zones 2.0 and recommended nominating the larger, higher-poverty tract (referenced in the presentation as the tract ending in 404502) to the state; nominations are due July 20 and would last 10 years if selected.
Economic development staff on July 15 urged the Lodi City Council to support nominating a larger, higher-poverty census tract for the federal Opportunity Zones 2.0 program.
"We recommended the census tract ending in 404502," Economic Development Director Luis Aguilar told the council, describing the parcel as larger than the current Opportunity Zone tract (Census Tract 4403) and better aligned with downtown mixed-use zoning and housing-element sites. Aguilar said the program, made permanent earlier this year under federal tax changes, provides preferential federal tax treatment for capital gains invested in qualified projects located within designated low-income census tracts.
Aguilar explained that states nominate tracts to the governor's office, which then forwards certified maps to the U.S. Treasury; nominations are competitive because governors may designate up to 25% of eligible tracts. He said the state will use new targeting criteria—median family income thresholds, poverty rates and housing-element site alignment—and that nominated tracts will remain on the map for 10 years.
Though the item required no formal council action tonight, Aguilar said the city was prepared to submit the nomination to the state by the July 20 deadline and that a public review period would follow. He also described criteria that the state favors—shovel-ready sites, alignment with the regional Jobs First blueprint, committed public investment and inclusion in tax-increment financing areas.
Council members asked clarifying questions about tax-increment financing (TIF) and how it would interact with county tax distributions. Aguilar said establishing a TIF is not required to apply but that indicating interest in a TIF may be favorable in the application; he noted that creating a TIF would require further work with county partners and additional council actions.
If selected, Aguilar said, Opportunity Zone designation could support private investment in rehabilitation and new construction, expand workforce opportunities and direct capital to targeted industry sectors. He invited letters of support during the public review period, noting staff had already contacted regional partners and economic-development organizations for potential backing.
Next steps: staff will prepare materials for the state's nomination process, accept and solicit letters of support during the public review window, and return to council with updates as the governor's office and the U.S. Treasury process nominations.
