Formula 1 payoff approved

Texas State Comptroller Susan Combs has approved a payment of $29.3 million from the state’s Major Events Trust Fund to organizers of November’s Formula One car race near Austin.

The funding is based on an estimation of the tax revenues generated by the U.S. Grand Prix. A final accounting of the actual revenues must be completed within 18 months by the state.

Race organizers asked for a total rebate of $30.6 million.

The state rebate will help pay expenses relating to traffic management, grandstand construction, and a sanctioning fee to the international race circuit’s governing body.

Race organizers in July estimated tax collections at $26.4 million from the three-day event at a new racetrack in southeast Travis County.

An unofficial survey of Austin-area hotels found revenues in the five-day period before the race topped $32 million, more than three times the revenue generated during a similar period in 2011.

A five-member Circuit Events Local Organizing Committee, acting on behalf of the city of Austin, submitted a proposal to the Comptroller’s Office in 2011 for 10 years of subsidies from the major events fund estimated at $25 million a year.

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Texas
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