A Pennsylvania Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) is a defined, parcel-specific geographic area designated by local governments and approved by the state as free of specific state and local taxes. Property owners, residents, and businesses benefit from greatly reduced state and local taxes on these properties for up to 12 years. The goal of the KOZ Program is to revive economically distressed urban and rural communities with this powerful market-based incentive.

KOZs have been designated by local communities and approved by the state - they are, in fact, a partnership between each community and region among state and local taxing bodies, school districts, economic development agencies and community-based organizations. Binding ordinances and resolutions were passed granting the waiver, abatement or exemption of specific state and local taxes.

In 1999, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania designated 12 KOZs throughout the state. The Southern Alleghenies KOZ was one of the 12 Zones designated at that time.

Selection Criteria (application deadline for these sites was December 31,1998)

To be considered as a Keystone Opportunity Zone, a site must have:

• Displayed evidence of adverse economic and socioeconomic conditions within the proposed zone such as high poverty rates, high unemployed rates, percentage of abandoned or underutilized property, and/or population loss.
• Passed binding resolutions or ordinances forgoing certain taxes; this included school districts, county and municipal governments.
• Public and private commitment of resources.
• Linkages to regional community and economic development activities including Team Pennsylvania and initiatives under the Governor's Project for Community Building.
• A written plan discussing the implementation of quality school improvements and local crime reduction measures.
• Demonstrated cooperation from surrounding municipalities.

Twelve Zones

The 12 statewide KOZs include a total of 118 subzones and range from as little as 362 acres to the largest at 6,196 acres. Each Zone is comprised of up to 12 parcel-specific, noncontiguous subzones in various sizes. These Zones encompass portions of 54 Counties and 185 Local School Districts. The Southern Alleghenies KOZ consists of 18 subzones totaling nearly 6,500 acres.

Length of Tax Relief

The Southern Alleghenies KOZ Subzones expire in 2008, 2010, and 2013.  Please check with the Southern Alleghenies Region KOZ Cooridinator for specific Subzone deadlines.

Administration

The Department of Community and Economic Development provides the organizational framework, including the certification and operations of KOZ. Additionally, the Center for Local Government Services and the Department of Revenue provide expertise in their areas. Each local jurisdiction has designated a single point of contact for zone facilitation. For the Southern Alleghenies KOZ, the KOZ Coordinator is Mr. Fred Querry, Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commimssion. He can be contacted at querry@sapdc.org or (814) 949-6508.

More Information

For more information about KOZ go to http://www.newpa.com/programdetail.aspx?id=64