An Evaluation of Churchill Downs’ Tax Increment Financing District

Lambert, Thomas (2022): An Evaluation of Churchill Downs’ Tax Increment Financing District.

Abstract

Tax Increment Financing Districts (TIFs) have become important local government tools in the USA over the last several decades as ways to help bring public and/or private investment dollars into inner city areas and/or older neighborhoods which are deemed to need revitalization. Within the last 10 years, the concept has become popular in Canada, and it has been used as a component piece of enterprise zone programs in other nations. This paper evaluates one of the first Kentucky USA TIFs started around 20 years ago with a preeminent Kentucky horse racing track, Churchill Downs, as the target for investment spending. Some of the desired spinoff effects of such investment are to help bring jobs, investment, and general economic growth to an older and low-income neighborhood which surrounds the track. This paper finds mixed results regarding these outcomes for the area surrounding Churchill Downs.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Churchill Downs, Economic Development, Horse Racing, Sports, Tax Increment Financing Districts (TIFs)
• Subjects: R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R3 - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location > R38 - Government Policy; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R5 - Regional Government Analysis > R58 - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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