Legislators shelve tax credit for racetrack

The move comes amid concerns over a land swap for developing a motor sports facility

A proposal that would have granted roughly $50 million in tax breaks for the development of a new motor sports facility at Kalaeloa appears dead this session.

The proposal, which has divided some members of Hawaii's racing community, has been in the works for the past four years and almost made it out of the Legislature last year.

It was revived last week by the House Finance Committee, just in time to meet a legislative deadline, but shelved by lawmakers yesterday after concerns surfaced about a potential land swap related to the development of the new racetrack.

Mike Oakland, president of Hawaii Motorsports Center, was seeking the tax credit to build a modern racetrack to replace the facility at Campbell Industrial Park, which closed April 1. Oakland did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment yesterday.

The demise of the bill this year was good news to Evelyn Souza, one of the co-founders of Save Oahu's Race Track, a group that wants to save the existing racetrack.

"We see it as a first hurdle to getting all racers once again united and getting Hawaii Raceway Park kept as a primary racing venue," she said.

Members of the group have been at the Legislature lobbying lawmakers almost every day since the closure of the Campbell Industrial Park facility. The group wants the government to condemn the current site and purchase the land so it can be redeveloped for racing.

The group has criticized Oakland for not committing to developing a new dirt track for racing at any new facility.

The opposition to the tax credit by dirt-track racers was a surprise to Rep. Jerry Chang (D, Piihonua-Kaumana), chairman of the House Tourism and Culture Committee, who has been working on the legislation the past few years.

"This came as a surprise to me because I thought all the racers would be on board with this," Chang said.

Chang also was at the center of a proposed land swap that raised some concern among colleagues in the House.

The development of a new track hinged on Oakland's purchase of agriculturally zoned land in Kunia to swap for the land at Kalaeloa, Chang said. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which owns the Kalaeloa parcel, balked at that deal and last summer asked Oakland to find another tract that could be swapped, Chang said.

With time running out to save the tax-credit measure this year, Chang said he asked the state agency whether it was interested in a parcel of land in Hilo of which he is a part owner.

"We just discussed it," he said. "There have been preliminary studies, but we haven't talked prices to anyone."

Chang said he had second thoughts about pursuing the deal after discussions with House leaders.

"I didn't want to have any sense of a conflict of interest if it's going to cause a cloud in this whole process," Chang said.

House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa-Poamoho) applauded Chang's decision.

"When I first heard about it (this week), we brought it before the caucus and we had a discussion," Oshiro said. "Rather than expose the Legislature to any criticism, I think Jerry came forward and made the disclosure and upon that, my recommendation was to table the measure for the session.

"To his credit, he nipped it in the bud."