Investing.com -- Boston formally dropped its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games on Monday, after reaching a joint decision with the U.S. Olympic Committee to end its campaign.
The announcement came hours after Boston mayor Marty Walsh refused to sign an Olympic host city agreement that reportedly relied on taxpayer funding for various costs related to the Games.
"I refuse to mortgage the future of the city away, I refuse to put Boston on the hook for overruns, and I refuse to commit to signing a guarantee that uses taxpayer dollars to pay for the Olympics," Walsh said at a press conference after speaking with USOC CEO Scott Blackmun.
While Walsh said in May that he was not opposed to using tax incentives to foster private development leading up to the Olympics, he would not approve any measures that required taxpayer money to build new venues. At the time, Boston Magazine reported that the Boston 2024 host committee outlined a proposal that would depend on municipal tax bond financing to handle two-thirds of the cost of a 60,000 seat Olympic stadium in Widett Circle.
Walsh indicated on Monday that he was being pressured by Olympic officials to sign a host city agreement "as soon as possible," even as some language within the contract would not be released until September.
In January, Boston was selected as the American bid host over Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, after submitting a $4.5 billion proposal. The plan attempted to constrain costs by relying on the city's vast existing transportation system and thousands of rooms in college housing for dormitories for the competitors.
By comparison, it cost Russia a reported $51 billion to host the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, according to various reports, while the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics carried a $40 billion price tag.
The USOC could select another host city by August, ahead of a September 15 deadline for filing candidacy paperwork with the International Olympic Committee.
"The USOC would very much like to see an American city host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024. We will immediately begin to explore whether we can do so on a basis consistent with our guiding principles, to which we remain firmly committed," Blackmun said in a statement. "We understand the reality of the timeline that is before us."