The legislation is a modified version of an initial draft proposed in late 2005, and reflects significant input from state and local government and community officials gathered by GWS. One major change is that the 2007 legislation does not specifically site the facility in Kitsap County or any other location. Instead, it establishes the public funding mechanisms to help pay for a portion of construction costs. Environmental review and permitting decisions remain with the local community.

“We are excited for the strong support from Lt. Governor Owen, as well as his courage and vision to push this legislation forward,” said GWS President Grant Lynch. “We also thank Representative Simpson and the 19 other legislators that have co-sponsored the bill in the House, and the numerous other state and local government officials for their continuing efforts to help bring major motorsports to the state of Washington. This legislation demonstrates our commitment to work closely with them to make this project one of which we can all be proud.”

Under the financing portion of the legislation, GWS will pay a minimum of $180 million, or nearly half of the estimated total project cost of $368 million, plus construction cost overruns, future upgrades and maintenance to the facility. The legislation allows for the creation of a Public Speedway Authority, which would issue approximately $164 million in bonds to help finance a portion of the speedway construction. These bonds would be repaid using a capped state sales tax credit calculated to represent a portion of the state’s share of new sales tax revenues generated by spending from out-of-state fans who attend events at the facility.

The remaining cost, approximately $24 million, would be paid through additional bonds supported by a dedicated special purpose tax on the facility. It is important to note that the bonds will not be issued by the state, and therefore do not consume Washington’s debt capacity. In addition, no new taxes will be created to finance the facility, and no current taxes will be increased.

“The $180 million commitment by GWS is the largest required private investment in a sports facility in Washington’s history and further demonstrates our confidence that the facility will generate the expected economic benefits,” continued Lynch. “In addition, the legislation places more stringent commitments on this project than any other sports facility agreements in the past, and include stronger, legally-binding language for a host jurisdiction agreement. These are some of the numerous recommended changes from our discussions with state and local officials that have been incorporated into the bill. We will continue to work closely with interested parties and we expect the legislation may be further modified as a result of those discussions.”

“We need projects that bring jobs,” said Virgil Hamilton from the Olympic Peninsula Building & Construction Trades Council. “We support this legislation and have asked our members to tell their legislators they should support working families in Kitsap County and in this region.” This proposal has been endorsed by the Washington State Labor Council, and the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council.

Great Western Sports has also made significant progress in studying its preferred site. Plans are underway to use LEED-certified building guidelines for construction on all conditioned areas, and to leave over 60 percent of the site unpaved. Also, the preliminary designs for the facility incorporate a bowl-shape to sit well below ground-level, which would minimize its profile on the surrounding landscape and will buffer sound impacts.

The motorsports and multi-use recreational facility will be used three weekends annually for major and regional racing events and will also be available for community use. At other ISC-owned tracks around the country, local organizations use facilities for meetings, fundraisers and walk-a-thons. Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman has formed a committee to study the most appropriate potential community uses of the facility to benefit local non-profits and other organizations.

You can download a PDF of the new Legislation Draft here, or you can download a summarization of the draft here.