New Jersey’s 130 designations take effect Jan. 1, 2027, advancing a tax incentive program whose local selections include Morristown, Mount Olive and Parsippany-Troy Hills.
MORRIS COUNTY, NJ – Federal officials have designated 130 New Jersey census tracts as Opportunity Zones, including three in Morris County, making the selected areas eligible for a program intended to attract long-term private investment through federal tax benefits.
The Treasury Department and IRS announced the designations Nov. 5. They take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and last 10 years.
The federal designation spreadsheet lists Morris County tracts 34027041705, 34027043500 and 34027046107. All three are classified as non-rural. This adds to the previous four Morris County tracts designated on the 2018 opportunity zone round.
New Jersey’s Department of Community Affairs had identified Morristown, Mount Olive and Parsippany-Troy Hills among the municipalities included in the state’s October nominations. The new federal action moves the selections beyond the nomination stage.
The designation applies to specified census tracts, not entire municipalities. An address must be checked against the designated boundaries; being located somewhere in one of the named towns does not establish that a property qualifies.
What the designation does
Opportunity Zones provide tax incentives for eligible investments made through Qualified Opportunity Funds. Under the IRS’s general explanation, these funds invest in qualifying property or businesses within designated areas.
The designation is a mechanism for encouraging private investment. It does not itself announce a construction project, award a municipal grant or establish that housing will be affordable to a particular household. Those outcomes depend on the investments and projects that follow.
Federal officials announced 6,576 designated tracts nationwide in the new round. The 2025 federal tax law made the program permanent and established recurring designation rounds, with additional incentives for qualifying rural investments.
New Jersey was permitted to nominate 130 of its 518 eligible tracts, according to DCA. The state said its selection process considered community recommendations, housing access, development near transit, redevelopment priorities and displacement risk. Municipalities had recommended more tracts than the state could nominate.
The state’s list also included communities across northern New Jersey such as Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Passaic, Hackensack, Clifton, Elizabeth, Newton and Phillipsburg. Eligibility within each still turns on the specific tract boundaries.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill welcomed the approval in a Nov. 6 statement, identifying housing, downtown development and reuse of vacant property as priorities. The statement did not announce a particular investment in the three Morris County tracts.
“Yesterday’s approval of New Jersey’s 130 Opportunity Zones opens the door to new investment, housing, and jobs for communities that stand ready to grow but have been historically overlooked. I’m especially focused on putting these designations to work in Trenton, Atlantic City, and downtowns across the state. This program will help turn vacant properties into homes and businesses, advance smart growth near transit, and strengthen our vital urban centers.” – Gov. Mikie Sherrill
Residents and property owners can review the federal list and the CDFI Fund’s mapping resources to identify designated areas. The federal page distinguishes the new designations from the program’s older, 2018 round.