Base Realignment & Closure (BRAC) Zones

BRAC is the congressionally authorized process used by the Department of Defense to reorganize its base structure. The most recent iteration of base realignment was enacted as federal law in November 2005 and is known as BRAC 2005.

As a result of BRAC 2005, Maryland was asked to accommodate a significant expansion of the United States military installations. As a result, the state will become the future home to thousands of our country’s civilian and military families.

Program Function
The BRAC Zone program is used to focus this increase in the residential population in areas already designated for growth and provide local governments with financial assistance for public infrastructure in these well-defined areas. The program also aligns other state resources and programs to local governments and businesses located in the BRAC Zones for a coordinated state effort on making the zones the focus of BRAC growth.

As part of the BRAC Zone program, a local jurisdiction receives:
 

• Payment of 100% of state real property tax increment on qualified properties.
• Payment equal to 50% of the local jurisdiction's real property tax increment on qualified properties.

Fund Use
These funds can be used to pay back bonds, including Tax Increment Financing bonds, issued for infrastructure improvements. Projects can also receive priority consideration for financing assistance from various state agencies. Benefits are available for 10 years from the time the first project in the zone is a designated as a qualified property. The funds must be used for infrastructure improvements.

More Information
For more details, please see the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development or contact the Economic Development Corporation at 301-583-4650 and ask to speak with a Business Development Specialist.