Utahns won't hear the latest estimate of how much the Olympics will cost until October, even though a $750,000 overhaul of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee's $1 billion-plus budget will be completed a month earlier.
SLOC Chief Executive Officer Frank Joklik said Tuesday the more detailed budget for the 2002 Winter Games is expected to be ready for review in September by the finance committee of the board of trustees.But Joklik said the updated numbers won't be made public until the full board has a chance to see them in October. And maybe not then. It will be released only "if that's the board's wish," Joklik said.
Joklik and SLOC Chairman Bob Garff spoke to reporters after a four-hour, closed-door meeting of the board's executive committee that included an update on the progress of Bechtel Corp., hired for $750,000 to revise the budget.
Olympic officials have talked for some time about the extensive budget revision being completed by September. Joklik's comments were the first indication of when Utahns could expect to see the finished product.
Gov. Mike Leavitt, who is responsible for reviewing Olympic budgets, declined Wednesday morning to comment on when the new spending plan should be made public.
According to Leavitt's spokeswoman, Vicki Varela, the governor "wants to understand directly from the Olympic committee what their process is" before making any statement.
State and local taxpayers have contributed $59 million toward building Olympic facilities, including a bobsled and luge run near Park City. The money is due to be paid back by the privately funded organizing committee.
The new budget due in September is supposed to be a much more detailed and accurate forecast of revenues and expenses. It's likely to be higher than the current budget for the Games.
The current budget calls for raising and spending $920 million in cash plus corporate contributions of goods and services that push the total well beyond $1 billion.
Also on Tuesday's agenda was amending the board's bylaws so trustees could be dismissed for making public any information considered confidential, such as discussions held during closed-door meetings.
Garff said the proposed amendment was approved by the executive committee and will go before the full board of trustees on July 9. He declined to provide a copy of the amendment until that meeting.
And also withheld were any details of a six-month interim budget that will take effect when the current fiscal year ends July 1, as well as the results of a compensation study to determine salaries.
Joklik has yet to be paid since taking over late last summer as president and CEO from former Olympic leader Tom Welch after Welch was charged with spouse abuse.
Garff said there was a "general discussion talking about all levels of compensation. . . . We also need to come to grips with Frank Joklik's potential of being paid. . . . It was a general report and needs to go before the board."
The executive committees were told negotiations are under way to lease additional office space in Salt Lake City. SLOC currently occupies two floors of an office building located at 257 E. 200 South.
And a contract with the University of Utah to use new campus housing for some 3,500 athletes and officials during the 2002 Winter Games and some 1,100 during the Paralympic Winter Games that follow was formally signed.
The 70-acre Olympic Village will be constructed on the university's portion of Fort Douglas and should be ready for student occupancy in August 2000. The total cost is $121 million, including $28 million from SLOC.