Texas' Major Event Reimbursement Program has reimbursed COTA at least $22.7M every year since '15COTA
Circuit of the Americas is out at least $25M in state funding after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office "rejected the group’s annual application for reimbursement" following the '18 U.S. Grand Prix at the track, according to a front-page piece from Philip Jankowski of the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Officials said that track reps "failed to meet the deadline for submitting a human trafficking prevention plan as part of their reimbursement request." The state's Major Event Reimbursement Program reimbursed the track at least $22.7M every year since '15 for the F1 race. COTA officials in the past have said that the state funding was "critical to maintaining successful operations at the track." A spokesperson for Abbott’s office said that the reimbursement "cannot be paid." However, COTA Exec VP Rick Abbott said that the track will "continue to work to get the annual subsidy." Rick Abbot added that even though a "prevention plan was not submitted by the deadline, the track continued with the anti-human trafficking efforts that it had outlined" before its '18 MotoGP race this past April (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 2/21).
