---
title: "LA Reaches Long-Delayed Deal to Recover Its 2028 Olympic Costs"
description: "Los Angeles has reached an agreement with the LA28 organizing committee setting out how the city will be repaid for the extra police, sanitation and other services it must provide during the 2028 Summer Olympics — resolving a contract that had been overdue for months."
category: "Los Angeles"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/los-angeles
author: "Anjali Rao"
published: 2026-06-27T10:38:46.000Z
updated: 2026-06-27T10:38:46.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/la-reaches-long-delayed-deal-to-recover-its-2028-olympic-costs
tags: ["Olympics", "LA28", "2028 Games", "City Hall", "city budget", "public safety"]
---
# LA Reaches Long-Delayed Deal to Recover Its 2028 Olympic Costs

Los Angeles has reached an agreement with the LA28 organizing committee setting out how the city will be repaid for the extra police, sanitation and other services it must provide during the 2028 Summer Olympics — resolving a contract that had been overdue for months.

Los Angeles has reached a long-delayed agreement with the organizers of the 2028 Summer Olympics over how the city will be reimbursed for the surge in public services the Games will require, [the Los Angeles Times reported](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-06-27/la-finally-reaches-deal-for-recovering-its-olympic-costs). The deal closes a gap that had worried city officials for the better part of a year.

## What the agreement covers

At issue is a cost-recovery contract — known as the Enhanced City Resources Master Agreement — under which LA28, the private nonprofit running the Games, commits to repay the city for services it provides above its normal day-to-day operations. That includes police overtime, extra sanitation and street-cleaning crews, and traffic management around Olympic venues.

The contract had been due in the fall of 2025 and slipped months past that deadline, prompting the City Council to press for it to be finalized, [LAist reported](https://laist.com/news/a-critical-agreement-between-olympics-organizers-and-la-is-now-6-months-late). City Controller Kenneth Mejia had publicly called the delay "deeply troubling," arguing the city needed a firm guarantee that organizers, not taxpayers, would cover the added costs.

## Why the stakes are high

The agreement is one piece of a larger financial structure that leaves Los Angeles as the ultimate backstop for the Games. When the city won hosting rights, it accepted the International Olympic Committee's requirement that a government guarantor absorb any shortfall. Under that arrangement, Los Angeles is on the hook for the first $270 million of any LA28 deficit, and California pledged in 2017 legislation to cover the next $270 million, according to [LAist](https://laist.com/news/la-olympic-games-ca-deal-no-sign-off-lose-money). Beyond that combined $540 million, the city's exposure is effectively open-ended.

Security looms as the largest uncertainty. Preliminary estimates have put Olympic security spending at around $1 billion, with the federal government expected to provide a comparable sum — though city officials have worried that federal money could fall short.

## Still some loose ends

Even with the city-LA28 deal in hand, at least one related piece has remained unresolved: as of earlier this year, California had not formally signed the contract finalizing its own $270 million guarantee, with state officials telling LAist the language was still being negotiated. City leaders have wanted every commitment locked down in writing well before the opening ceremony.

LA28 has consistently said the Games will be financially self-sustaining, funded by broadcast rights and sponsorships, and that it is negotiating in good faith with the city. For Los Angeles — managing a tight budget while preparing to host the world's largest sporting event — getting organizers' obligations on paper has been the priority. With the services agreement now reached, the city has cleared one of the bigger items off that list.

## Sources

- [LA finally reaches deal for recovering its Olympic costs](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-06-27/la-finally-reaches-deal-for-recovering-its-olympic-costs)
- [A critical agreement between Olympics organizers and LA is now months late](https://laist.com/news/a-critical-agreement-between-olympics-organizers-and-la-is-now-6-months-late)
- [CA hasn't signed off on a deal to help bail out LA if the Games lose money](https://laist.com/news/la-olympic-games-ca-deal-no-sign-off-lose-money)