Los Angeles controller subpoenas LA28 financial records

What the subpoena asks for

Mejia issued the demand under his City Charter authority. It came two and a half weeks after LA28 rejected his previous request to disclose the information, the Los Angeles Times reported. His office said it needed the details "to ascertain the financial status of the 2028 Olympic Games".

The subpoena covers bank statements, detailed plans for venue construction and the size of contracts with outside vendors. Mejia also wants the names of the contractors being paid. Much of the same information had also been requested by the Los Angeles Times. The 2021 Games Agreement requires the information to appear in annual reports that LA28 issues to its designated city liaisons: the mayor, the city attorney, and the top administrative and legislative officers.

LA28 says it met the requirement by giving the information to other city officials, including Mayor Karen Bass, the city administrative officer and the chief legislative analyst. Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement before the subpoena that she backs the release of more financial information.

"LA28's refusal to comply with my Office's request after years of withholding information that they are contractually obligated to provide to the City of L.A. is unacceptable," Mejia said in a statement. "My responsibility is to protect taxpayer dollars, and I will use my full authority under the City Charter to assess the City's financial exposure of hosting the 2028 Games."

Why the city's money is at stake

The city's exposure runs through the same agreement. Los Angeles covers the first $270 million of any Olympic losses, California the next $270 million, and the city covers any losses above $540 million. Mejia's office says that liability is why "Angelenos deserve full transparency from LA28 related to all spending and revenue". The obligation applies if the Games fail to break even, not only if they run over budget.

"If LA28 does not do well, then we as taxpayers, as the fiscal backstop, we're on the hook," Mejia told the Los Angeles Times.

LA28 officials have reported collecting revenues, particularly from corporate sponsorships and ticket sales, that exceed projections. They say the Games remain on track to turn a profit, with excess funds promised to youth sports programs in Southern California. LA28 has estimated the Games will generate $2.6 billion in domestic sponsorship revenue and $2.5 billion in ticket sales. Mejia said LA28 is currently under budget, but that costs have historically risen as a Games draws closer, which he cited as a reason to see the documents now.

What the annual reports left out

The most recent public budget from LA28 puts the Games at $7.26 billion, up from a previous estimate of $7.15 billion. It includes $1.4 billion for venue infrastructure, $1.42 billion for sport, games services and operations, and $586 million for other expenses.

Mejia wrote to LA28 general counsel Elisabeth Freinberg about that budget. In the letter he said it ran to half a page and lacked the detail needed "to conduct meaningful analysis and evaluate the feasibility of the budget and LA28's financial standing". The report omits budgets and schedules for individual venue projects, and a list of contracts signed in fiscal 2025. A single page summarizes contracts worth more than $1 million, which LA28 says total more than $687 million, without naming the contractors or giving individual amounts.

A Los Angeles Times review of five years of annual reports found that LA28 had at times curtailed the reporting its 2021 contract spells out. Missing details included progress on roughly two dozen venues around Greater Los Angeles, and contracts for services such as security and pre-production work for the opening and closing ceremonies.

The City Council has accepted several of those reports, raising questions but no major objections. It did not intervene two years ago when LA28 stopped naming contractors paid more than $1 million.

In September, the city's chief administrative officer and chief legislative analyst asked for more detail, calling information about the contracts "limited". They said LA28 had previously objected to disclosing the contract details, saying disclosure could be "financially detrimental and a risk to its future competitive contracts partnership and sponsorship activities".

LA28's answer

LA28 spokesperson Jacie Prieto Lopez said the organization had not received the subpoena as of Friday night and could not give a formal response.

In a statement, Prieto Lopez said LA28 was disappointed "to see the City pulling away time, resources, and attention from the work that matters most". She said the priority was making sure Los Angeles is fully ready for the Games. She also said all prior annual reports had been submitted to and accepted by the city.

The committee says some material that did not appear in those reports, such as copies of insurance policies, went to the city directly. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto's office said in a statement to The Times on Friday that she "supports the Controller's efforts to obtain the financial information necessary to understand the full scope of LA28's finances and the City's potential fiscal exposure."

What happens next

Section 217 of the City Charter gives the controller and other city officers power to order documents and attendance at hearings, with subpoenas issued through the City Clerk's office. Mejia's office says he will keep pressing for the data, but has not said what he will do if the subpoena is ignored. LA28 has given no indication that it intends to hand over more than it says the contract requires.

Prieto Lopez said the organization looks forward to continuing to meet its obligations under the agreement.