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Track officials get incentive plan: Package to serve as rebate for drag strip, speedway upgrades
(Independent Tribune Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 22--CONCORD -- Concord and Cabarrus County have sent a $60 million incentive proposal to Speedway Motorsports Inc. that would use property taxes from new investment at Lowe's Motor Speedway to pay for public infrastructure improvements surrounding the facility.
Capped at $60 million, the incentive will return 85 percent of annual taxes on new investment at the speedway, taking up to 40 years to fulfill. Typically, city and county tax incentives last three to five years.
Concord Mayor Scott Padgett said that because SMI wants to fast-track some of the infrastructure projects -- including the realignment of both Bruton Smith Boulevard and Morehead Road -- the company will front the money for the projects.
In turn, the city and county plan to refund the property taxes from improvements SMI plans for its Concord facility.
"They want to do this on an accelerated schedule," Padgett said. "There is already a problem of congestion (around the speedway), and these improvements will help with congestion."
The internal SMI improvements to the speedway include the recently completed, $60 million zMAX Dragway @ Concord and $200 million in upgrades planned for the main speedway facility.
The proposal is now in the hands of SMI attorneys, with no clear timeline as to when expect an answer from CEO Bruton Smith.
"If I anticipate next week, it will be next month," said Jay White, chairman of the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners. "If I say next month, it will be next week."
White said SMI officials were "wise" to put the proposed incentives toward projects that would benefit residents, and not just toward company uses.
He said that because the incentives were being used on public infrastructure and based on new taxable investment from the speedway, they were somewhat similar to the tax increment financing used to fund the infrastructure projects surrounding Kannapolis' North Carolina Research Campus.
Projects included in the proposed agreement are:
--Realignment and relocation of Morehead Road and Bruton Smith Boulevard, valued at $35.5 million;
--Vehicle and pedestrian underpasses at two locations on U.S. 29, valued at $10.8 million;
--Vehicle and pedestrian overpass and underpass on Morehead Road, valued at $1.2 million;
--Relocation of overhead utilities along U.S. 29 and Morehead Road;
--Construction of noise-attenuation devices at the recently completed drag strip.
The incentive package extends from disagreements Smith had with Concord over the drag strip, which led to Smith saying he would move his racing business out of the county.
To retain Smith's facilities, Concord reversed a decision to block the drag strip, and along with Cabarrus County, committed to an $80 million incentive package to make infrastructure improvements around the speedway.
While Smith has never received incentives in the 50 years he's done business in Cabarrus, Padgett said incentives for the drag strip were discussed previous to last year's skirmish over the project.
The proposed agreement also comes with two other hefty components:
First, the city and county will front $15 million for the extension of George Liles Parkway from Weddington Road to U.S. 29.
Padgett said the road extension, along with improvements at U.S. 29, is an important project for the 20,000 workers who commute from Cabarrus County to Charlotte each day.
The project is already approved by the N.C. Department of Transportation, but is scheduled to get under way in 2011. Officials said Concord and the county would fast-track the project, and then receive a refund from NCDOT
Concord City Manager Brian Hiatt said the George Liles Parkway project would get under way as soon as NCDOT completes its studies for the extension.
Second, the Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau will commit up to $500,000 a year toward marketing for the speedway, with a maximum of $5 million.
In theory, SMI could scale back its own marketing funds with the money and put those monies toward the infrastructure improvements, though officials would not comment on how SMI would adjust its budget in regard to the CVB investment.
"It would certainly give them the opportunity to spend less money on their advertising," White said.
--Contact Eric C. Deines: 704-789-9141
To see more of the Independent Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.independenttribune.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Independent Tribune, Concord, N.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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