A lot of serious-minded people have significant questions about the validity of the cost and cash flow forecasts offered by the Olympic Bid Committee. We're supposed to believe Utah can host the Olympics without losing money, big money, big tax money, our tax money. Somehow we're going to be different than the rest of the world. The committee has looked eight years into the future and accurately calculated inflation, interest rates, construction costs and the rest of the minutiae necessary to pay for the Olympics.
If you want a realistic look into the future to see how efficiently Olympic facilities will be built and operated, look at our new Franklin Quest Field. Was the facility built within budget? Has it operated profitably or possibly at break-even? Are operating costs kept within budget? Headlines proclaim the pitiful truth: No!If things went this badly with a single baseball field, imagine what can be done with facilities of Olympic proportions. Now, imagine Utah taxpayers paying half a billion dollars (or more) to cover actual costs. It's time to get real. It should not be blasphemous to question the committee.
Is the digital countdown sign at 400 South and State counting down a taxpayer bomb?
Arnold S. Grundvig Jr.
Salt Lake City