The Los Angeles City Council is expected to approve on Wednesday an Enhanced City Resources Master Agreement with LA28 to determine which beyond “normal and customary” city services, such as police, transportation and sanitation, the local organizing committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games will compensate the city for.
Read more Angels encouraged by first look at Moises Ballesteros behind the plate
The updated terms of the proposed agreement, which had an Oct. 1, 2025 deadline for approval, reaffirms the city’s right “to independently audit all information used by LA28 to calculate a potential 2028 Games Surplus. LA28 agrees to work in good faith to provide the City with necessary records in order for the City to be eligible for state or federal grant funding.”
A final cost estimate for enhanced services is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 31, 2027. A payment schedule will then be established with LA28 required to make a payment to the city on the first of the month the service is provided.
City officials will present a final payment statement to LA28 by Dec. 1, 2028.
The nearly year-long debate over ECRMA has highlighted council members’ concerns about the financial impact of the Games on the city, the credibility and competency of LA28 as well as what council members describe as a lack of transparency and cooperation by LA28’s top officials.
“Bankruptcy cannot be the legacy of these Games,” council member Monica Rodriguez wrote in a letter to LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover in which she also criticized LA28 for what she described as a lack of “financial transparency.”
Hoover, in particular, has come under increased, often personal, criticism from council members.
“You’re not coming here, giving us confidence that you’re doing the right thing for the city of L.A.,” council member Hugo Soto-Martínez told Hoover during a recent council meeting in one of a series of heated exchanges between the two.
City officials have expressed concerns that security costs to the city could exceed the $1 billion in federal funding for security at the 2028 Olympics set aside in President Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Staffing the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games will cost the Los Angeles Police Department an estimated $1.15 billion, according to a memo from LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell to the City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee. The LAPD’s annual budget is $2 billion.
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto wrote in a March memo to the City Council that “The ECRMA, as drafted by LA28, limits the obligation to reimburse City costs before LA28 is permitted to create its own legacy fund with the surplus.”
But Los Angeles city administrative officer Matthew W. Szabo and Sharon M. Tso, the city’s chief legislative analyst, are both recommending the council execute an updated ECRMA. Mayor Karen Bass must also sign off on the deal.
Under terms of the deal “Infrastructure Improvements requested by LA28 (e.g. accessibility, public works, beautification, or street improvements) that are beyond the City’s minimum legal requirements, or its sole discretion, shall be reimbursed by LA28.”
Enhanced city resources “for unplanned public health and safety incidents directly arising from official 2028 Games events shall be reimbursed by LA28; however, this does not include normal and customary public health and safety incidents, uncontrollable events, or broader public health crises.”
LA28, as part of an agreement with the city when Los Angeles was awarded the Games, established a $270 million contingency fund which is monitored by the city. The organizing committee also has comprehensive insurance policies as protection in case of natural disasters or security threats.
LA28 also has a roughly $330 million unallocated contingency fund, Szabo said. Under the agreement, LA28 is required to annually deposit up to 10% of its cash-on-hand into the contingency fund.
If there is a post-Games deficit, the city is responsible for the first $270 million after the $270 million LA28 contingency fund is exhausted. The state is on the hook for the next $270 million after the city. If the Games finish without a deficit, the contingency money will be directed to a legacy fund to support youth programs and other sports initiatives.
Approval of the agreement is also important because LA28 cannot enter into similar agreements with other Olympic venue cities, such as Anaheim, Inglewood and Long Beach, until the Los Angeles deal is in place. LA28 is also unable to reach venue services contracts with Olympic and Paralympic competition sites until the Los Angeles deal is finalized.
Read more How do you make money on Roblox? This startup built an empire