Governor Murphy Lauds Federal Approval of 169 Opportunity Zones in New Jersey

Governor Murphy Lauds Federal Approval of 169 Opportunity Zones in New Jersey

Governor Phil Murphy announced today that the United States Department of Treasury has approved his 169 recommended designations for Opportunity Zones throughout the Garden State. The Opportunity Zone Program is designed to drive long-term capital investments into low-income rural and urban communities.

“I’m pleased the Treasury Department has accepted all 169 sites I proposed last month for designation as Opportunity Zones,” said Governor Murphy. “Now, these cities and towns will have additional means to generate economic growth throughout their respective communities and, more importantly, create economic opportunities for their residents.”

Under federal legislation, eligible Opportunity Zones were census tracts with a poverty rate of 20 percent or a median family income up to 80 percent of the area median. Governor Murphy was authorized to designate up to 25 percent of the state’s eligible low-income census tracts (up to 169 tracts) as Opportunity Zones.

Designated census tracts reflect key economic indicators (e.g. income, unemployment rate, property values) that also take into consideration geographic distribution, access to transit, and the value of existing investments, including those encouraged by state programs and incentives.

The following municipalities have at least one Opportunity Zone:

• Atlantic City (Atlantic County)
• Egg Harbor City (Atlantic County)
• Egg Harbor Twp (Atlantic County)
• Pleasantville (Atlantic County)
• Somers Point (Atlantic County)
• Cliffside Park (Bergen County)
• Englewood (Bergen County)
• Fairview (Bergen County)
• Garfield (Bergen County)
• Hackensack (Bergen County)
• Lodi (Bergen County)
• South Hackensack (Bergen County)
• Teterboro (Bergen County)
• Burlington City (Burlington County)
• Palmyra (Burlington County)
• Pemberton Twp (Burlington County)
• Riverside (Burlington County)
• Willingboro (Burlington County)
• Camden City (Camden County)
• Lindenwold (Camden County)
• Pennsauken (Camden County)
• Pine Hill (Camden County)
• Wildwood (Cape May County)
• West Wildwood (Cape May County)
• Lower Twp (Cape May County)
• Bridgeton (Cumberland County)
• Vineland (Cumberland County)
• Millville (Cumberland County)
• East Orange (Essex County)
• Irvington (Essex County)
• Newark (Essex County)
• Orange (Essex County)
• Deptford (Gloucester County)
• Glassboro (Gloucester County)
• Woodbury (Gloucester County)
• Bayonne (Hudson County)
• Kearny (Hudson County)
• Jersey City (Hudson County)
• North Bergen (Hudson County)
• Union City (Hudson County)
• West New York (Hudson County)
• Flemington (Hunterdon County)
• Trenton (Mercer County)
• Hamilton (Mercer County)
• Carteret (Middlesex County)
• Jamesburg (Middlesex County)
• New Brunswick (Middlesex County)
• Perth Amboy (Middlesex County)
• South River (Middlesex County)
• Asbury Park (Monmouth County)
• Freehold Borough (Monmouth County)
• Long Branch (Monmouth County)
• Neptune City (Monmouth County)
• Neptune Twp (Monmouth County)
• Red Bank (Monmouth County)
• Dover (Morris County)
• Wharton Borough (Morris County)
• Berkeley (Ocean County)
• Lakewood (Ocean County)
• Manchester (Ocean County)
• Clifton (Passaic County)
• Passaic City (Passaic County)
• Paterson (Passaic County)
• Prospect Park (Passaic County)
• Carney’s Point (Salem County)
• Salem City (Salem County)
• Bound Brook (Somerset County)
• North Plainfield (Somerset County)
• Sussex Borough (Sussex County)
• Elizabeth (Union County)
• Hillside (Union County)
• Plainfield (Union County)
• Linden (Union County)
• Rahway (Union County)
• Phillipsburg (Warren County)

The Department of Community Affairs Opportunity Zone page with link to the list of designated tracts and interactive map can be found here. 

Read the full article here.