Rural Opportunity Zones Seeks To Slow Loss Of Rural Population
Lawmakers: Live rural and pay no income tax
By Janelle Stecklein, CNHI Oklahoma Reporter
OKLAHOMA CITY — After about a half-century in business, Nowata County’s optometrist retired late last year, leaving residents to drive long distances to get their eyes checked.
Such inconveniences are becoming more common in this county in northeast Oklahoma, with a population of about 10,500.
Like many rural areas, Nowata County is getting older. Its younger residents are wooed away by city life and job opportunities elsewhere.
Community manager Anthony Tucker — who commutes from nearby Washington County — said places like Nowata County face a Catch-22. To lure people, they must have jobs. But to get businesses and jobs, they need people willing to work.
That’s why Tucker is excited by a proposal making its way through the Legislature to exempt anyone out of state who moves into Nowata County from paying income taxes.