Taxpayers told not to worry about Olympics cost
GAMES | '100% privately funded': bid chief
The City of Vancouver is considering borrowing $375 million or more to finish construction of its 2010 Olympic Village.
The budget for London's 2012 Olympic Games is four times what was initially projected.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)
But Chicagoans shouldn't worry about potential cost overruns drying up public money if the Olympic Games come to town in 2016, the chief of bid operations for Chicago 2016 said Tuesday at the Union League Club.
John Murray said it's a misconception that taxpayers could lose money if Chicago hosts the 2016 Olympic Games. That won't happen because Chicago's bid is "100 percent privately funded," he said.
He said Chicago's bid will benefit from the normal, scheduled CTA and highway repairs.
Chicago's final bid book must be submitted to the International Olympic Committee in about two weeks.
Committee members will visit the city in April and vote Oct. 2 on which city --Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo or Madrid -- will host the 2016 Games.
Despite repeated assurances from Mayor Daley and Chicago 2016 leaders that taxpayers won't be on the hook, a group called No Games Chicago recently formed to give those who don't support Chicago's bid an organized voice.
Ramsin Canon, one of the group's founders, said he thinks the Olympics will end up using "quite a bit of public money" and pointed to security, such as overtime for police, as one area where costs could soar.