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Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson says Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Vancouver's debit rating, and, according to the CBC, it could cost taxpayers more money as they finance the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Athletes Village.

The Mayor said the downgrading to AAA- from AAA could make it more expensive for the city to secure credit for the village bailout by as much as three-10ths of a percentage point, adding the downgrading itself was linked to the additional financial risks associated with Vancouver's Olympic Village project.

Since Fortress Investment Group, a New York-based hedge fund, stopped payments to Millennium Development Corp. to build the project, the city has covered construction costs with a $100-million bailout loan and has proposed taking over the project financing by borrowing money to lend directly to Millennium to complete the project, reports the CBC.

Meanwhile UPI reports the original $175 million cost of security for the 2010 Games has soared by more than five times to $1 billion, according to officials.

The provincial government and the federal government have a 50-50 cost-sharing agreement for the Games, which the Globe and Mail said will be the largest peacetime security operation in Canadian history. But it reportedly doesn't include providing protection outside Olympic sites or for the normal operating costs of the military and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Provincial Finance Minister Colin Hansen, who is responsible for the Olympics, said he's grappling with nailing down final costs with his federal counterparts before he presents the provincial budget on February 17, reports UPI.

(Source: Gamesbids.com)