Work on the Formula One race track in Austin has stopped. There was early opposition to taxpayer money being used to subsidize the track and arguments from the organizers saying that “no taxpayer dollars would be given to the track.” You decide. Here’s the run down: construction was stopped on Tuesday, November 16th and it appears to be because the State of Texas isn’t giving the agreed-upon $25 million dollar subsidy now-ish, before the track is open. Texas is okay with giving the track this $25 million of, well, it must be taxpayer money, but it had agreed to the subsidy after the track’s first race, scheduled for November 2012, when the facility is actually producing revenue.
There are several actors in this drama, all with their own view through the prism, and you can read about them in the Austin American Statesman. In spite of whatever spin whoever chooses to put on it, it looks like organizers want their “not taxpayer money” $25 million now and they’ve showed they’re willing to pull the plug on the whole operation. Or is it just a bluff, a way to pressure the State of Texas to cough up the subsidy a year early? Either way, unlike the artist’s rendering above, it’s not a pretty picture.
Interesting timeline here.
– Valerie Asensio
