Forgotten amid the backslapping at the recent VANOC press conference was the continued seepage of funds to projects believed to have long ago been off-loaded.

When the Speed Skating Oval was awarded to Richmond in 2004, VANOC supposedly off-loaded the cost overrun problem to Richmond taxpayers. Earlier this year, Richmond's Mayor Malcolm Brodie assured taxpayers that overruns were covered by a land sale to the private sector. Why then, is VANOC giving $150,000 more out of its disappearing contingency fund to Richmond to complete the construction of the Speed Skating Oval

The Speed Skating Oval's original cost in the Olympic Bid Book was $60 million. When costs at Simon Fraser University, the original venue location, threatened to top $78 million, VANOC awarded the oval to Richmond. According to a 2007 Partnerships BC report, VANOC transferred most of the financial risk for the Olympic Speed Skating Oval to Richmond when it moved the venue from Simon Fraser University. VANOC's $63.1 million contribution to the oval construction was given with the understanding that no additional funds would be provided. Apparently not.

The City of Richmond is using the Olympics as an excuse to redevelop a city-owned tract along the Fraser River. Project add-ons, including a waterfront plaza, park and parkade, blew the project's cost to $178 million - a big burden for Richmond ratepayers.

To pay for all this and free the current municipal government from a potentially election-losing tax hike, the city sold the 18.6-acre Oval Riverfront Lands to ASPAC Developments Ltd. for a total of $141 million. The City only needed $43 million from the land sale to complete the oval project, so it was effectively $98 million in the black. The land sale more than covered off the cost of the oval and appeared to be an example of how to partner with the private sector to free the taxpayer from the heavy burden of these legacy projects.

What happens next VANOC, in a closed door meeting, agrees hand out more funds to finish a number of venues, wiping out half of the remaining $53.5-million construction contingency. For some reason, VANOC gave Richmond another $150,000 to finish the Speed Skating Oval. The contingency fund now amounts to $26.8 million, but apparently all but $10 million is allocated. With three years to go before the start of the Games, $10 million is not much of a contingency fund.

So, why the additional money to Richmond from VANOC when Richmond clearly had more than enough to finish the project

This writer's calls to VANOC on behalf of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation were not returned.

Even in cases where VANOC appears to have off-loaded cost overrun risk, the risk hasn't gone away. VANOC seems to have problems managing risk. Taxpayer deserve due diligence, transparency and a full accounting of risks and variables. With problems like this, and a vastly depleted contingency fund, the taxpayer will probably be called upon yet again to fill in an even larger amount on the blank cheque the government seems to have given VANOC. The Olympics will be a big party, no doubt, but the hangover increasingly promises to be even bigger.