A few weeks ago, it appeared that the city of Los Angeles might be liable for billions of dollars to backstop the costs of the upcoming 2028 Olympics. This very real threat to city taxpayers may have been alleviated to some degree with last week’s promise of more federal assistance, but many questions remain.
No one has been more relentless in pursuing answers to those questions than noted progressive civil rights attorney Connie Rice. She should be commended for her efforts to push the city to be more transparent about the costs to the city. This is especially true given that LA is effectively bankrupt and possesses a sorry history of incompetent governance.
On July 17th Rice sent a detailed letter to Mayor Karen Bass and other city leaders, concerning the “enhanced services agreement” between the City and LA28, the privately funded, non-profit organization created to oversee the games. Under an earlier agreement executed in 2021, LA28 would reimburse the city for services beyond what the city would provide on a normal day. These “enhanced services” — additional city services needed for the Games, beyond normal service levels, are projected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more. And the pressure is on given that the final agreement has a deadline of October 1st of this year.
As Rice stated in her letter, “Los Angeles faces multiple fiscal hazards that many current leaders negotiating this and other Olympics agreements, will not be around to face.” She properly noted that, “The City cannot afford an additional $1.5 billion hit in 2028 because city officials inadequately protected taxpayers in 2025.”
Some of the more troubling concerns set for in Rice’s letter include what is the extent to which the city would have to pay the losses of other LA County venue cities. It should be noted that, due to fiscal unknowns, the City of Santa announced that it would not host a venue for the 2028 Olympics. That decision followed an October 2024 financial impact report that concluded Santa Monica would lose $1.45 million as a venue city, and after LA28 reportedly failed to offer sufficient financial guarantees to protect Santa Monica taxpayers.
The scope of “enhanced services” for which taxpayers have potential exposure is expansive. Rice’s letter specifically requested detailed information about:
- All direct security costs for Police, Fire and Public Transportation, including salaries, overtime, intra-agency communication systems, technology, extra vehicles, and equipment needed to manage extended shifts without shade or shelter;
- All law enforcement mutual aid costs including housing, salaries, food and transportation for all mutual aid officers mandated by federal authorities (mutual aid will not be reimbursed by the State for non-emergency deployments);
- Transportation safety officers on public transit used for the Games;
- Infrastructure and staff for Emergency Medical Services Heat Injury Prevention Plans (e.g., cooling and watering stations, shade canopies, posted EMS staff along walking routes and at venues; extra medical and first aid equipment costs);
- Fire alert plan costs: equipment pre-positioning costs and venue evacuation costs if wind fire conditions or worse arise;
- All direct costs for enhanced transit and transportation including extra train cars; synchronized and aligned emergency response and communications systems;
- All direct costs for road and freeway closures; and,
- All extra insurance costs; As noted at the outset, President Trump just announced via an executive order the creation of a White House task force for the 2028 Olympics, chaired by himself with Vice President JD Vance as vice chair. The task force will operate under the Department of Homeland Security and would coordinate security, transportation, and visa processing among other federally related tasks.
While additional federal support could lessen the risk of LA taxpayers being stuck with the bill, it is unlikely to do anything to lessen the hostility between the Trump administration and city leaders. Taxpayers can only hope that both sides will work together to ensure a well-run Olympics. But if the negative reaction to Trump’s executive order is any indication, the 2028 games could easily turn into a chaotic mess the likes of which can only be imagined.
Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
