Chapter 4-Media Article

Chapter 4-Media Article
"Venue costs of 2010 Olympic Games jumps by 23 per cent to $580 million"
Yahoo News Canada- Friday, February 3, 2006

On Friday, the committee responsible for organizing the Vancouver Olympics announced that its venue constuction costs have risen by 23% to an estimated $580 from $470 million. In order to cover the $110 million cost jump, the Vancouver Olympic Committee(VANOC) asked the provincial and federal governments for an extra $55 million each.
It has been estimated by the Olympic organizing committee that the cost of building venues for the Games at $470 million in bid documents submitted to the International Olympic Committee Venues have been affected by higher construction costs ranging from sports facilities like a new speed skating oval, Olympic ahtletes village, and etc.
The Vancouver Games are not the first to cope with higher costs. Because of their relative sizes, summer Olympics tend to experience larger cost over-runs than Winter Games. As with previous Olympic games, the 2004 Summer Olympics' in Athens costs $19.5 billion, 18% more than projected. In addition, the final $4.21 billion budget for the Winter Olympics' in Turin, Italy, was recently approved after $112.3 million was needed to cover a shortfall. The 1976 Summer Games in Montreal left taxpayers with a $2 billion debt that will be paid off this year, while the $1 billion final cost of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics was more than double the initial budget. The total budget for the Vancouver Olympics, including operating costs, was $2 billion before Friday's announcement. It has been expected that the Olympics 2010 to have rising costs. Furthermore, it has been said that this is no longer a sporting event...it is a game of big dollars for big business. So far, the provincial and federal governments have pledged $310 million each towards the Olympics in Vancouver. From the total capital budget of $620 million, the Olympic organizing committee had earmarked $470 million for venue construction. If there are any debt from the Games, it is supposingly paid by the provincial government.
The province has pledged a total of $600 million to the Olympics, which includes the venue construction money, the contingency fund, $87.5 million for security, $55 million for post-Games legacies, and some money for community programs and First Nations.
Lastly, it is said that the extra cost of building Olympic venues is less than the 40 to 50 per cent increases that have hit other major projects in the province.

Relationship To Ch.4-Taxation, and Benefits Received Approach
In the article above, it was stated that the venue cost for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics have incrased by 23%. Even though the provincial and federal have both offered $310 million dollar each, there is still a slight possibility that it may not be enough to cover the total capital budget completely. Personally, I think I am in favour of Vancouver holding the 2010 Olympics in the city simply because even though the budget for it is far too much, there are many benefits in the long run. For example, Vancouver will definitely attract more tourist to the city by holding the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Furthermore, it will cost money for athletes to take part in the Olympics, therefore there may be a company sponsoring the athelete. As a result, it may lead to more business opporunities in Vancouver due to the large number of company advertisements during and before the Olympics Games. In addition, there will most likely be more job opportunities avaliable if an Olympics was to take place in Vancouver. This is because more buildings, transportations, etc. are required to be built and thus more people needed in the construction field. On the other hand, I am a bit against the Vancouver 2010 Olympics because it is cause the overall economic status of the city to go down since it is using more and more of the city's money. Eventually, leaving the city to be in debt or broke. In addition, the level of taxation may incrase due to the vast amount of money needed to support the construction of new buildings in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. As well, will the 2010 Olympics really benefit everyone in the city? Or is it just benefiting those that own a store because more tourists will be in the city during that time? Technically, those individuals that do not benefit from the Olympics may not be too pleased with the increased level of taxation (if there is ever to be one....) thus the are less likely to be in favour of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Nevertheless, there are both good and bad affects of having the 2010 Olympics to be in Vancouver. Therefore, I think the final decision of supporting or not of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is fully depended on each and every indivuidual.