The City of Whitewater learned today that it has received Federal approval for two proposed Economic Opportunity Zones (EOZs) in the community. The EOZ designation, which will provide an additional economic development tool in the City of Whitewater, was created under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which Congress passed late last year and President Trump signed into law.
“We’re very excited at the quick approval of our two EOZ nominees given by US Treasury Secretary Robert Mnuchin,” said Dave Carlson, Executive Director of the Whitewater Community Development Authority (CDA). Governor Walker had included Whitewater’s two nominees as a part of a broad list of 118 sites statewide which were forwarded to Secretary Mnuchin in late March.
“This has the potential to spark some much needed growth in our community,” said Larry Kachel, Chair of the Whitewater CDA. “The EOZ program will allow certain investment gains to be redirected, with significant tax savings, into economic opportunity funds which will make investments in communities like Whitewater.” Investors will be able to earn permanent tax savings on the original capital gain based on how long they keep it invested in the economic opportunity fund.
“The details of how the program will operate still need to be ironed out in Washington D.C., but we are excited to be adding this new program to our economic development toolbox,” said Carlson. “We’ll begin working right away with developers who may wish to do projects in Whitewater based on the addition of this new incentive.”
The two Whitewater EOZs include the portion of the city in Walworth County east of Franklin Street and the portion of the city in Walworth County west of Franklin Street and north of Main Street.
