BY GREGORY A. HALL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jerry Carroll's Kentucky Speedway got the checkered flag Thursday for up to $17.5 million in tax credits under a state incentive program for tourism projects.
The speedway was one of several Northern Kentucky projects approved by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority in Frankfort.
"Without it we can't do the project," said Mark Simendinger, president of Carroll Properties, the company handling the Gallatin County stock-car track for Mr. Carroll and his investors.
Mr. Carroll, owner of Turfway Park horse track, broke ground earlier this year for the 1 1/2-mile car track that will be on 800 acres at Interstate 71 and Ky. 35.
It's expected that the race course, which hopes to draw NASCAR events, will pump millions of tourism dollars into the Tristate economy.
Getting incentives "has always been an integral part of our development plan," Mr. Simendinger said. "That and road improvements show the major commitment the state of Kentucky has for this project." In comparison, the city of Cincinnati will forgive $1.4 million a year in city taxes over 30 years for the new Cincinnati Bengals stadium.
The team is paying about $50 million in stadium-generated revenues toward the cost of the $404 million riverfront football complex that Hamilton County is building.
The tax break helps the county, not the team, because the county would have had to pay those taxes under its agreement with the Bengals. The car track's application calls for a $72 million investment. "A motor speedway is a very expensive project," Mr. Simendinger said.
He specifically credited Gov. Paul Patton and Tourism Secretary Ann Latta for backing the project.
The Kentucky tourism program allows new ventures in that industry to keep sales tax revenues up to 25 percent of total project cost for 10 years.
The only other project approved so far under the program is the Newport Aquarium.
The speedway initially will seat 60,000 people, but could be expanded to 180,000 seats by 2002.
NASCAR-sanctioned races, at $45 a ticket, generate about $2.7 million in ticket sales per event.
The state incentive board also gave approval to two other Northern Kentucky projects.
A decision is expected next week whether A-Carb LLC, the American subsidiary of an undisclosed French company, will build a carbon disc brakes manufacturing plant in Walton for airplanes.
The firm also is considering a South Carolina site, said Bryan Quinsey, a vice president at Tri-County Economic Development Corp., the firm that recruits businesses to Northern Kentucky. "It's a battle," he said.
The plant would cost at least $40 million and employ 61 people at an average hourly wage of $15.52. The state approved the company for up to $1.5 million in incentives.
Lawson Walker, an attorney for the company, said an announcement will be made next week, but he couldn't provide any more details. The state board also approved a loan of $1,450,200 to the Northern Kentucky Port Authority to buy 58 acres in the Richwood Industrial Park from A.G. Simpson Co.
The company had planned to build at the park, but later decided not to. The port authority, an intergovernmental body, has not committed to buying the land.
Lucy May contributed to this report.
