The Florida Senate yesterday “began moving a bill that would give” ISC nearly $100M “worth of tax breaks over the next 30 years,” according to Jason Garcia of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. ISC execs said that the “incentives in the bill would help persuade the company to spend" $250M or more on improvements at Daytona Int'l Speedway, which would "include both improvements to the grandstand itself plus a new commercial development next door.” The Senate Commerce & Tourism Committee “unanimously approved the legislation.” The legislation would “give ISC three tax breaks: A refund of all sales tax paid during the construction, which analysts estimate will save the company $10 million; a sales-tax subsidy similar to one given to other professional sports teams in Florida, worth $60 million over 30 years; and a second, ongoing subsidy based on [how] much sales-tax collections rise following the Daytona expansion.” Analysts “haven't determined how much the second subsidy would cost the state in tax revenue.” ISC would have to “spend at least $250 million on construction over a four-year period before it could receive any of the tax breaks.” Garcia notes a “similar bill is advancing through the Florida House of Representatives” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/9).
