Los Angeles 2024 are only proposing one Olympic budget ©BMD

Los Angeles 2024 are planning to abandon the standard practice of having separate operating and infrastructural budgets if their bid to be awarded the Olympic and Paralympic Games is successful.

It comes as the city remains the only one of the three Olympic and Paralympic contenders not to have published their venue budgets in the second part of their candidature files submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last month.

In the section on "Venue Funding and Development" in the report filed on October 7, Los Angeles claimed "detailed estimated expenditures required for the key Olympic competition and non-competition venues" had been submitted to the IOC.

But, unlike with rival bids from Budapest and Paris, this is "being withheld from publication at this time to protect LA24 proprietary information". 

American officials promised it would be included within the third part of their Candidature File in February, although it is also possible it could be published before the end of the year.

When asked about this during the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly taking place here this week, Los Angeles 2024 bid leaders claimed that this is because their budget will be subject to a thorough analytical process before being released.

"We have an agreement with the City of Los Angeles to go through and develop the budget with them," bid chief executive Gene Sykes told insidethegames.

"We are in the process of doing the review now, and by the end of the year our review should be public.

"The IOC agreed to that and understood the need to do it.

"It will have been third party validated and the operational budget will have been seen at every level by International Federations.

"It will be singular and comprehensive."

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be a key part of a third Olympic Games ©SCCOG
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be a key part of a third Olympic Games ©SCCOG

Los Angeles 2024 chairman Casey Wassermann claimed they are seeking to produce one unified budget which takes into account before direct operational and wider infrastructural costs.

This marks an "unprecedented" change from the normal system, where two sets of cost are produced.

Los Angeles 2024 claim they are able to do this because they do not have any wider non-operational infrastructural costs.

Elements of the city's $120 billion (£96 billion/€110 billion) transport plan due to be completed in time for the Games will not be included because, it is claimed, they have nothing to do with the bid and will take place whatever the result. 

Los Angeles 2024, who claim to have 88 per cent support from the local population, are marketing themselves as a "privately funded" bid which will not rely on any money from the taxpayer.

Their signature stadium is due to be the Memorial Coliseum, already used at two Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984. 

It is due to undergo a renovation funded by the University of Southern California (USC) estimated to cost around $270 million (£216 million/€242 million).

Venues are still due to be announced for three sports - archery, modern pentathlon and mountain biking.

Discussions are currently ongoing with the three relevant International Federations, Wassermann claimed, and are also due to be announced in February.

They are also hoping to use the new 80,000 seater City of Champions Stadium currently being developed in Inglewood to house the Los Angeles Rams National Football League team - but will also announce exactly what it will be used for in February.

Los Angeles 2024 chairman Casey Wasserman claims the budget for the city's bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be rigorously scrutinised before being made public next February ©Getty Images
Los Angeles 2024 chairman Casey Wasserman claims the budget for the city's bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be rigorously scrutinised before being made public next February ©Getty Images

Bid leaders were speaking here following the release of a report by the California Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) in which they described the bid as a "low-risk and fiscally responsible" plan.

It only predicted a "neutral" long-term economic impact on the region, however.

"If Los Angeles hosts the 2024 Games, some short-term net economic gains in 2024 and in the years just before the Games are likely," the report concluded.

"Lasting economic gains, however, appear unlikely. 

"That being said, the low-risk financial strategy of the bid greatly reduces the risk that the Southern California economy will bear large, long-term taxpayer expenses related to the Games.

"For these reasons, under the current bid plan, the long-term economic effect of the 2024 Games probably would be close to neutral."

Bid leaders believe that, once again, the neutrality of the report shows they are subject to a more rigorous analytical process.

They also claim it shows the sheer size of the Californian economy that such a huge project as an Olympic and Paralympic Games can register a relatively small impact.

All three candidates will give their first presentations during the ANOC General Assembly here tomorrow, an event billed as a key stage 10 months ahead of the vote on September 13 at the IOC Session in Lima.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will lead their delegation.