All Signs Point to Olympic-Size Bum Deal for Taxpayers
We just ran across this recent story about the massive cost overruns that plague Vancouver — host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics:
Olympic-related construction bills continue to soar over budget for beleaguered Vancouver taxpayers, with some estimates putting the total added costs at close to $45-million. That’s apart from the troubled Millennium Project to house Olympic athletes, which is over its original budget by more than $100-million and has had to have its financing taken over by the city.
Earlier this year, we saw a major government bailout for the 2012 London Olympic Games — which have been plagued by massie cost overruns for years.
How about last year’s Beijing Olympic Games? Well, according to this story, the initial estimates of a cost of 28 to 30 billion yuan was blown away with actual costs exceeding 400 billion yuan.
What’s to make us think Chicago would be able to avoid these Olympic-size cost overruns?
History, for one. Just look at recent examples of major projects here in the Windy City.
Take, for example, Millenium Park. It’s certainly a nice place to visit — but the project was completed 4 years past its deadline and cost about three times as much as originally budgeted. Taxpayers foot the bill for $270 million of those cost overruns.
And what about Mayor Daley’s proposed CTA “Super Station” at the Block 37 site in Chicago’s Loop? Here’s a quick update on the status of that boondoggle:
After spending $213 million, the City of Chicago has decided to suspend indefinitely construction of an underground “super station” for express train service to and from the city’s major airports and downtown.
To build the station as originally planned, total spending would be about $320 million, more than $100 million over budget, according to city officials. Skeptics say the estimate of an additional $100 million may be low, noting the city has repeatedly underestimated costs on major projects ranging from football stadium renovations to park construction.
The experience of other major Olympic host cities, combined with the City of Chicago’s track record of botched budgets and deadlines for other projects, doesn’t bode well for any taxpayers hoping to avoid footing the bill for the 2016 Olympic Games.
All the more troubling given today’s news about the City of Chicago’s budget woes.
Despite Mayor Daley’s and Pat Ryan’s cheerleading for the 2016 Games … all signs point to a bum deal for the Chicago (and Cook County and Illinois) taxpayers.
Mayor Daley’s Olympic Confusion
Filed under: 2016 Olympics, Mayor Daley, Spending, Taxes
So, did Mayor Daley commit the taxpayers as unwitting guarantors of the cost of the 2016 Olympic Games … or didn’t he?
Well, last week he sent word from Switzerland that he had, in fact, done just that.
But now, in a press conference back home in Chicago, Mayor Daley offered an explanation that was, well, confusing as heck.
The Chicago Tribune reports:
In a news release, Daley said he may have “spoke too quickly” when he agreed in Switzerland to give an unlimited financial guarantee.
Pressed by reporters, Daley then seemed to suggest he hadn’t made a blanket guarantee: “I just said I will sign an agreement, I didn’t say which one.” He added the city still planned to amend the Olympics contract to ease Chicago’s liability.
Well, that certainly clears things up, eh?
As Commissioner Peraica points out in this video, despite the firestorm surrounding Daley’s announcement from Switzerland, the mayor and Olympic organizers still are leaving taxpayers in the dark — even holding secret meetings with Chicago aldermen.
What should worry all Illinois taxpayers — even the most ardent Olympic supporters — is Chicago’s track record on funding and completing large projects.
We all can remember the Millenium Park billions-over-budget-and-years-late project…
And how about the CTA “megastation” project that has cost tens of millions already and now sit sidle in the middle of Chicago’s Loop?
Chicago just hasn’t shown the ability to effectively and efficiently manage large projects. And that makes us worried that the taxpayers will be left footing the bill for cost overruns. Furthermore, it’s very likely that, if those cost overruns are significant, that Mayor Daley will use his clout to push some sort of taxpayer bailout from Springfield.
And that leaves every single taxpayer in the state of Illinois on the hook for yet another Chicago boondoggle.
This isn’t about the Olympic Games. It’s about protecting the taxpayers. It’s about requiring Mayor Daley to, once and for all, act in a responsible, transparent manner that doesn’t insult the voters and throw our hard-earned tax dollars down the drain.
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