By keeping its headquarters in Colorado Springs, the U.S. Olympic Committee will keep 722 jobs in the city with a combined payroll and benefits of $55 million, according to a study being finalized for the federation.
The USOC's CEO, Scott Blackmun, rolled out those figures Tuesday at a luncheon attended by key business leaders in the city, where there has been a healthy debate about spending more than $53 million to keep the headquarters in town for the next 30 years.
Earlier this year, the USOC moved into its new building downtown, part of a three-part project that also includes new offices for several Olympic sports' headquarters and improvements on the Olympic Training Center.
The 722 jobs include 264 employed directly by the USOC, with most of the others coming at the 22 national governing bodies whose headquarters are in Colorado Springs. The 264 USOC jobs combine for a $27 million payroll and benefits, though Blackmun said that might go down slightly because of cuts in the past year.
Despite the jobs the Olympic movement produces, there are a core of critics in fiscally conservative Colorado Springs who believe the money could be better spent. To push the project forward, the city had to approve a deal requiring it to pay $1.7 million a year for the next 30 years to repay ''certificates of participation'' that helped fund the new headquarters.
The mayor, Lionel Rivera, supported the headquarters using studies that showed the new buildings would produce $3.4 million in taxes - or twice the city's repayment obligation.
The USOC study, being prepared by Deloitte, a federation sponsor, is expected to buoy the argument that keeping the headquarters in Colorado Springs was a financially sound move.
