NEWS RELEASE
Council to Receive Proposed 2014 Games Budget in March
(Tuesday, January 30, 2007)-- Halifax Regional Council will be presented with a draft Multi-Party Agreement document and a recommendation-- with options–regarding the proposed budget for hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games in early March, Chief Administrative Officer Dan English said today.
Mr. English told a Committee of the Whole meeting this afternoon the recommendations should be presented to Council on March 6 and it is hoped that the Mayor and Councillors will make their decision on March 20.
“Much progress has been made, but we are faced with a number of tasks and milestones in the next two months, “ he said. “As a result, we will be coming to Council several times with options for their consideration.”
Mr. English said the expenditure side of the proposed 2014 Games Budget has been completed,
approved by the 2014 CWG Board of Directors and submitted to the funding partners. All parties will begin their due diligence now with respect to the potential revenue side of the ledger. Also, results of an economic impact analysis will be available during the review.
The CAO said a working group, composed of staff from each of the partners-- HRM, the Province of Nova Scotia, the federal government, Commonwealth Games Canada and Halifax 2014-- has begun to draft the Multi-Party Agreement.
The proposed agreement will define roles and responsibilities of the partners and establish respective partner contributions.
Mr. English said staff will bring the first detailed budget recommendation to Council no sooner than March 6 to allow sufficient time for:
• Detailed review of the 2014 Games Budget
• Internal affordability analysis
• Internal/external due diligence reviews
• External economic impact and benefit analysis.
May 9 is the deadline for the three cities competing for the 2014 Games-- Halifax, Glasgow and Abuja, Nigeria-- to submit their Bid to the Commonwealth Games Federation. The final decision will be announced in Sri Lanka in November.
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Dan English
Chief Administrative Officer
490-4026
