If They Go Over Budget, We Pay: LA28 Still Has Not Opened Its Books

LA28 SUBPOENA - On Friday, City Controller Kenneth Mejia used a power Los Angeles controllers rarely use. He subpoenaed LA28, the committee organizing the 2028 Olympics. Former Controller Ron Galperin told LAist he issued a subpoena only once in his time in office.

The dispute is over a duty the city wrote into the 2021 Games Agreement. LA28 must give the city the name, type, amount, term and purpose of every contract above $1 million, along with schedules and budgets for venue improvements. Mejia's office says LA28 satisfied two of the nine contract subsections. Still missing, by its account: forecast-versus-actual comparisons, bank statements, venue schedules and budgets, contractor identities, and the value and purpose of contracts.

Taxpayers have a direct stake. If LA28 runs a deficit, the Games Agreement makes the city responsible for the first $270 million. The State of California covers the next $270 million. Beyond $540 million, the city is liable for the rest. Mejia put it plainly in a letter to LA28's general counsel: "if they go over budget, we pay."

What LA28 has shown the public is thin. Its September 25 report puts the total budget at $7.26 billion, up from $7.15 billion. It lists $1.4 billion for venue infrastructure, $1.42 billion for sport and games operations, and $586 million for other expenses. It says contracts above $1 million total more than $687 million, in a one-page summary. Mejia says the budget occupies half a page that "lacks the detail necessary to conduct meaningful analysis."

The timeline is worth noting. Mejia asked for the records on August 26 and set a September 28 deadline. LA28 answered that it had already shared the information with city liaisons, including the mayor, city attorney, chief legislative analyst and city administrative officer. On September 30, Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso and City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo told a council committee that some material was shown to them briefly but never made it into the annual report. Tso said she had seen a list of contracts in a meeting. The city holds no copies, reportedly because public disclosure could hurt sponsor negotiations.

That concern deserves a fair hearing. Organizers do not want rival bidders reading every number. But the agreement already requires the disclosure, and a list viewed in a meeting and then taken back is not a public record. The city is the guarantor, and a guarantor needs to see what it is guaranteeing.

The exposure reaches beyond the committee budget. As The Sports Examiner has laid out, the city faces pressure on two other fronts. On security, the federal government has provided $1 billion so far. The LAPD's May budget memo estimated security costs inside city limits at $732.2 million and rising, excluding 407 vehicles it says it needs. On transportation, Metro has requested $2 billion in federal help for a Games network that includes dedicated lanes and a 1,750-bus add-on system, and has received nothing. CEO Stephanie Wiggins told a regional hearing in September that the funding must be committed by year's end, or LA28 would need another delivery partner.

There are reassuring signs as well. Sponsorship sales have been strong, and about four million tickets have reportedly been sold. Yet LA28's own Chief of Sport and Games Delivery, Shana Ferguson, told sports federation executives in Switzerland that the Games "cost a lot" and that LA28 is "not there right now" in matching expenses to revenues.

LA28 says it has not received or reviewed the subpoena. In a statement it said it remains "focused on delivering a safe, fiscally responsible, and successful 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games," and that it is disappointed the city is diverting time and attention from preparation. It has also said its prior annual reports were submitted and accepted by the city.

LA28 has 15 days to respond, which The Sports Examiner calculates as October 31. Four questions will show whether that deadline matters. Will LA28 name its contractors and contract values in a public filing? What will the forecast-versus-actual comparison show about the gap between expenses and revenue? Who pays for security beyond the first $1 billion in federal money? And where will Metro's $2 billion come from before the end of the year?

The Games may well succeed. A deficit is not inevitable, and the Olympics could bring real civic benefits. But exposure above $540 million falls entirely on Los Angeles, under an agreement the City Council approved 11 to 2 in December 2021. Residents cannot price that risk today, because the contracts that would show it remain out of view.

Mejia's subpoena is a modest request. It asks LA28 to hand over what the agreement already requires. If the records support LA28's account, the city will have its answer. If they do not, better to learn that in 2026 than in 2028.

(Jose E. Navarro, MBA, is a financial and operations professional and the publisher of The Navarro Report, which examines government spending and institutional accountability.)

Sources: LAist (Oct. 16 and Sept. 28, 2026); MyNewsLA (Oct. 16, 2026); The Sports Examiner; FOX 11 Los Angeles (Dec. 3, 2021, Games Agreement vote).