Bourbon County included in Rural Opportunity Zone

Bourbon County will now be included in a state Department of Commerce program aimed at restoring population growth throughout the state. The Kansas Department of Commerce has announced that the Rural Opportunity Zones (ROZ) program will expand during Fiscal Year 2014. The expanded program will include 23 additional counties approved to participate in ROZ by the Kansas Legislature during the 2013 session.

"By bringing the Rural Opportunity Zones program to these additional counties, Kansas will be able to expand its efforts to ensure that we have a steady population and strong workforce in rural counties," Kansas Commerce Secretary Pat George said in a press release. "I look forward to working with the newly designated Rural Opportunity Zone counties to help them attract the businesses and workers who will drive our state's economy forward."

In 2011, Gov. Sam Brownback and the Legislature established the ROZ program in 50 counties as a means of countering the rural flight that has caused many Kansas counties to lose population over the past several decades. The ROZ program allows qualifying individuals who move to a ROZ county to have their state income taxes waived for up to five years.

According to information on the Kansas Commerce web site, individuals must have lived outside the state for at least five years and have Kansas source income less than $10,000 per year over the past five years. Individuals do not have to have been employed over the past five years. The Department of Revenue will oversee the state income tax exemption.

The law authorizes ROZs counties to participate in a state-matching program to repay 20 percent of outstanding student loans up to $3,000 per year ($15,000 maximum benefit) for students who graduate from an accredited post-secondary institution and move to a ROZs county that opts to partner with the state. There are no income requirements to be eligible for the student loan repayment assistance and the payment assistance is considered taxable income.

The student loan repayment program is a county-state partnership, with each entity making half of a participant's student loan repayment each year. The Department of Commerce will oversee the student loan repayment portion of the program. Repayments will be made annually to the lender of the loans.

Bourbon County Commissioner Barbara Albright told The Tribune commissioners will be looking into more details of the program before they decide whether to partner with the state.

Grant and Gray counties, two of the newly designated ROZ counties, have already voted to partner with the state in the student loan repayment program.

"We are excited to be included in the recent expansion of the Rural Opportunity Zones program," Bob Dale, Grant County Economic Development director said in a press release. "Grant County commissioners enthusiastically passed the resolution to participate in the student loan repayment option at their first opportunity, and here at Economic Development we already have a ROZ inquiry that looks promising to bring us a new restaurant. It is a great program for rural Kansas."

In addition to Bourbon County, the following counties have been certified by the Legislature as ROZ counties (italicized counties are 2013 additions):

Allen, Anderson, Barber, Brown, Chase, Chautauqua, Cheyenne, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Comanche, Decatur, Doniphan, Edwards, Elk, Ellsworth, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jackson, Jewell, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Meade, Mitchell, Morris, Morton, Nemaha, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osborne, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Pratt, Rawlins, Republic, Rice, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Scott, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Trego, Thomas, Wabaunsee, Wallace, Washington, Wichita, Wilson and Woodson.

For more information about the Rural Opportunity Zones program, visit KansasCommerce.com/RuralOpportunityZones.