British Columbia’s auditor general Arn van Iersel released a report Thursday that cites a long list of potential problems with British Columbia’s estimated costs for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. He says the 2010 Games will cost federal and provincial taxpayers $2.5 billion and the province’s share could balloon further beyond its budget if it doesn’t keep a watchful eye, reports CP.
Colin Hansen, the cabinet minister responsible for the Olympics, said Wednesday that he was confident the province could stay within its budget of $600 million in direct costs.
Hansen said his government doesn’t count the cost of things like upgrading the highway between Vancouver and Whistler, where some of the events will take place, because that would have happened anyway.
But van Iersel said he has included those costs partly because the province hasn’t come up with a comprehensive definition of Olympic-related expenses, adding that inherent risks remain in the budget – “risks that could result in additional cost pressures to the province”.
The auditor general said he thinks there are still more costs that haven’t been taken into account and he doesn’t think the province has given taxpayers all the information they need.
“The funding envelope presented by the province provides only a partial picture of the total Games-related costs for the province and does not reflect its total financial undertaking related to the Games” the auditor general wrote in his report.
He added, “of particular concern is that the province has not yet established a definition of what constitutes an Olympic cost”.
In the report he tells the province to keep a closer look at the dollars and cents being spent on the 2010 Games. He said it is the province which is the guarantor and would ultimately be left responsible for cost overruns.
He also called on the province to get more specific cost estimates for security, now budgeted at $170 million.
Hansen said there is nothing to indicate those costs would see any significant increase and there is enough in the contingency fund to cover increases, while noting that the Prime Minister has indicated there may be a need to be flexible on those costs.
Meanwhile the auditor general says there will be lasting legacy benefits associated with the Games, but adds no new information on the potential economic value of those benefits to the province has been made available.
Vancouver 2010 has issued a response to four reports released Thursday by the Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, and the Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia acknowledging the “valuable observations, recommendations and accountability that the organizing committee will ultimately help Vancouver 2010 deliver the 2010 Games with lasting legacies”.
John Furlong, Vancouver 2010 CEO said, “we welcome these reports as a valuable opportunity to enhance accountability and to refine and improve upon our game plan. Staging the Games is a tremendously complex exercise and this in-depth process has been highly useful, both in confirming our successes, and in some cases considering new approaches as we go forward.
“The reports provide experienced industry perspectives that will help us as we work together with our government partners to ensure that our venue program is achieved within our $580 million venue budget. We understand our fiscal responsibility to the taxpayers of B.C. and Canada to achieve our venue plan and to create lasting community and sport legacies that will be enjoyed for generations”.
He added, “we will continue to do everything possible to find savings and manage risk until every venue is finished. We consider our capital funding complete and are confident we can deliver our program under our $580 million budget”.
Dan Doyle, VANOC executive vice president of venue construction said, “more than 55 per cent of our venue construction will be completed by the end of the 2006 construction season and we have $66.8 million in our contingency fund”.
