A guest editorial from the Austin paper:
Aleshire: If F1 racing is so lucrative, it shouldn't need public funding
Bill Aleshire, Local Contributor
statesman.com
Sunday, May 22, 2011
The more we hear about what a financially lucrative business Formula One is, the more taxpayers should object to using tax dollars to support it. If F1 is truly such a good business to locate in Austin, it should have enough "fuel" to make it around the track on its own from the starting line...
...F1 relies on magical math. F1 claims there will be increases in some consumption tax revenue (sales, alcohol, hotel, etc.) if it comes here. Thus, by kicking that revenue back to it, it says this is really "free" to the taxpayers.
The error in such thinking is that every profitable business has the same effect without such tax kickbacks. It's unfair and utter nonsense to give these chosen few businesses back the taxes they generate, leaving the rest of the taxpayers to actually fund the government...
Aleshire, an Austin lawyer, was Travis County judge between 1987 and 1998.