It may cost more to stage the 2010 Olympics Games than organizers had anticipated, says the annual report of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC).

The report, released on Wednesday, shows venue construction is on time and on budget, but VANOC says it is exposed to some risks on the operating side.
 
Chief executive officer John Furlong points out that the provincial and federal governments pay for venues, but that money to run the Games comes from private sources.

VANOC CEO John Furlong was unwilling to publicly disclose a figure for possible operating budget overruns for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
(Chuck Stoody/Canadian Press file photo)

Even so, Furlong was unwilling to publicly disclose a figure for possible operating budget overruns.

"Generally speaking, the way this plan is done, because it is 3½ years out, is we have included a significant, or will include, a significant contingency in the plan to offset where we think the risks might be.

"And that's prudent obviously. And our board will look at that, our assessment of that, and that will be an area where they spend quite a bit of time assessing whether or not the amount of contingency is enough."

The VANOC report says the $580 million committed by the B.C. and federal governments for construction will be enough to complete the sporting venues without further additional funding.

That includes a "healthy contingency" of $66.8 million.

Awaiting business plan

NDP Olympic critic Harry Bains said it's hard to dispute the venue cost figures because VANOC has not issued a proper business plan — something that was promised a year and a half ago.

"These quarterly updates are fine, but they don't tell the picture that taxpayers expected to have. They have to have a business plan so that we can compare these quarterly reports against a business plan.

"A business plan was supposed to be there [in] April 2005. It's 18 months late."

Furlong said the numbers are based on a preliminary business plan released 18 months ago and that the official business plan will be released early next year.

In 2003, the Vancouver Olympic bid book projected spending of about $1.3 billion to run the 2010 Winter Games.

Meanwhile, Bains also notes that the latest budget report does not contain figures for projects defined as part of the 2010 Olympics by the recent auditor general's report — including the Canada Line rapid transit project to the airport and the upgrading of the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler.