Montpelier Rising
In the last five years, the City of Montpelier has increased its assessed value by $16 million, welcomed three new businesses, and brought 35 new jobs to our community. Even COVID-19 could not slow down our City’s growth. In the height of the pandemic, Montpelier worked to welcome a new factory and two new retail businesses into our downtown.
Currently, we are in talks to welcome a company that could bring up to 70 jobs and another developer that wants to make renovations to historic buildings in our downtown. We also have an opportunity for a renewable energy company to locate here.
Montpelier is committed to being on the cutting edge of innovation. The County has talked to several wind companies that are exploring opportunities in Blackford County, and Harrison Township is set to have a fully operational 1,200-acre solar farm by 2023.
We continue to be highly conscious of the need to improve the living experience of our citizens. We are working with Blackford County Economic Development Corporation to bring broadband-level Internet speeds to the entire City and have made significant investments to upgrade the capacity of our water and wastewater infrastructure. In the near future, we hope to reinvent Montpelier’s Downtown and Parks to make our community more friendly to children and families.
All in all, Montpelier is definitely on the rise, and we would love for you to be a part of what we are building. Together, we will take this community to new heights.
Mayor Kathy J. Bantz
Committed to Community – Dedicated To Progress
Mayor Bantz Interview with Good Morning Grant County
Opportunity Zones
In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created Opportunity Zones. These are special land designations that qualify investments in these areas for capital gains tax incentives. The entirety of Montpelier rests within the Blackford County Opportunity Zone, which follows the borders of U.S. Census Tract 9751
(North of CR 200N to Wells County Line – East to Jay County Line – West to Grant County Line – see map).
A Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) is a project within the boundaries of an Opportunity Zone that has received special tax status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). There are many tax incentives associated with investing in QOFs, which will be reviewed below. Investors can find and invest in an already approved QOF, or they can apply to create a new QOF with the IRS.
How an Opportunity Zone Works:
- Sell an asset
- Within 180 days of the sale of the asset, reinvest capital gains in a QOF
- After 5 years in a QOF, 10% of the reinvested capital gains are excluded from federal capital gains tax
- After 10 years in a QOF, any appreciation on the value of the reinvested capital gains is exempt from federal capital gains tax.
Example:
- Jim sells an asset for $1 million and reinvests the money into a QOF within 180 days
- After 5 years, Jim only has to pay federal taxes on $900,000 of the capital gains of that initial $1 million sale
- After 10 years, his $1 million investment appreciates to $2 million. Jim only has to pay federal taxes on the first $1 million.
