Judge Robert Adkins of the 3rd District Court in Tooele County, Utah, ruled on December 17 that Tooele County’s sale of Miller Motorsports Park to Mitime Investment Group was illegal under Tooele County law and vacated the sale of the property.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Center Point Management, a losing bidder in Tooele County’s sale of the 511-acre Miller Motorsports Park. Center Point Management’s suit alleged, among other things, that the sale was in violation of Tooele County Code 1-10-2 that prohibits public property to be sold for less than fair market value, because his bid of $22.5 million was greater than the amount Mitime bid, $20 million.
In the lawsuit, Center Point Management showed that Tooele County taxed Miller Motorsports Park for the assessed value of $28.1 million, according to a report by KSL.com.
In October, ahead of the lawsuit hearing in court in early November, Mitime President Alan Wilson told Roadracingworld.com, “We have a lease option should the court rule against us and make us go back to the county and re-do the whole program. We would operate under lease agreement.”
At that time, Wilson said Mitime was moving forward “full bore” and hiring staff ahead of taking possession of what would be renamed Utah Motorsports Complex on January 1, 2016. Mitime even started signing racing event agreements for 2016, including an agreement to host MotoAmerica next June.
But according to the KSL.com report, Judge Adkins ruled that the lease agreement between Tooele County and Mitime would be illegal for the same reasons the purchase agreement was illegal.
Roadracingworld.com was unable to reach Wilson, Judge Adkins or Tooele County Commissioner Shawn Milne prior to post time.