Here are some of the most frequently asked questions from Herald readers about Snohomish County’s proposed NASCAR track. Answers are based on a four-day visit to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., for NASCAR’s popular Busch Series and Nextel Cup on July 10 and 11. More Q&A is coming as this four-part series progresses.
Q: How are NASCAR tracks financed, and what are the costs and benefits to taxpayers?
A: Newer tracks such as Chicagoland Speedway, which opened in 2001, have usually been given big tax breaks.
In Joliet, the track owners – a partnership between affiliates of NASCAR and the Indy Racing League – built the $130 million speedway.
Joliet offered them substantial tax breaks and incentives, including:
* An expedited, 30-day annexation process.
* A 10-year property tax exemption on the added value of the land. In other words, for 10 years the track will pay the city the old farmland property tax rate, with no new assessments on the land’s improved value.
* For the school district’s portion of the property tax, the track now pays 50 percent of the improved value, or about $70,000 annually. (The school district offered the same 10-year, 100 percent tax deal as the city for the first three years, then settled out of court for more money.) The track also teaches a racing-oriented vocational and business class at the school.
In the end, the 10-year tax break will cost the school district almost $1 million. The school district has a current $6 million budget deficit.
* In 2003, the city earned $202,737 in sales tax revenues on food, beverages and other retail sales at the track. (The track sold $2.2 million in food and drinks.) The city did not collect any percentage of the track’s ticket sales, which range from $195 for a grandstand seat to $2,150 for a luxury campsite.
Q: How much are police costs? Who pays?
A: Joliet pays $50,000 for coordinating traffic. The track owners pay $50,000 for security at the event. The Joliet Police Department deploys about 100 of its 276 officers for the event.
Q: Is there grass parking?
A: Yes.
Q: Is the parking area used for sports fields?
A: No.
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