Scrapping the entire project of a new Formula 1 circuit in Flins-Les Mureaux, near Paris set to host the Grand Prix of France in future years, came at a hefty price for taxpayers, according to a report published by the Chambre régionale des comptes d'Île-de-France.
In the definitive observation report covering the years 2004 to 2009 and made public on November 24th, 2011, it's said that the costs of preliminary studies and preparation work amounted to nearly 9 million euros (over $12 million CAD) instead of 7.8 million euros as initially planned – and all that money has gone to waste.
The court found the extra million or so to be the result of accounting discrepancies. Apparently, not all expenses backed by the Department were accounted for when the project was canned.
Administrators needed to add staff costs, real estate fees (the land was sold at a lower price than its original acquisition cost), compensations to the business firm in charge of the construction work as well as a certain amount of communication expenses.
Now, people in the Yvelines area (northeast of Paris) have to pay millions for a Grand Prix, a racetrack and a hotbed for auto-related companies that won't even exist.
In the definitive observation report covering the years 2004 to 2009 and made public on November 24th, 2011, it's said that the costs of preliminary studies and preparation work amounted to nearly 9 million euros (over $12 million CAD) instead of 7.8 million euros as initially planned – and all that money has gone to waste.
The court found the extra million or so to be the result of accounting discrepancies. Apparently, not all expenses backed by the Department were accounted for when the project was canned.
Administrators needed to add staff costs, real estate fees (the land was sold at a lower price than its original acquisition cost), compensations to the business firm in charge of the construction work as well as a certain amount of communication expenses.
Now, people in the Yvelines area (northeast of Paris) have to pay millions for a Grand Prix, a racetrack and a hotbed for auto-related companies that won't even exist.