Jackson's memorial costs much more than previously estimated

LOS ANGELES, July 9 (Xinhua) -- A Los Angeles City Council member said on Thursday that the total cost resulting from pop star Michael Jackson's memorial was much more than the amount of 1.4 million U.S. dollars estimated by the mayor's office.

Mayoral spokesman Matt Szabo wrote in a post on the mayor's Twitter page Wednesday that the total cost to the city was "far less than expected" at 1.4 million dollars.

But Councilman Dennis Zine said in a telephone interview aired on Fox 11's "Good Day LA" Thursday morning that the sum cited by the mayor's office pertained only to the extra costs incurred by the Los Angeles Police Department.

He said the amount did not include the costs resulting from the activities of the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Street Services and the Fire Department. Nor does it reflect the costs attached to the weekend deployment of city employees who helped with pre-memorial planning and to the installation of portable toilets near Staples Center where the memorial was held.

Zine said the city's Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that the final cost to taxpayers could be more than 3 million dollars.

The Analyst's Office had previously projected the possible cost to the city at 3.8 million dollars.

That projection was based on the expectation that 750,000 fans would flock to Staples Center, even though they would have had no tickets to get inside for the memorial. In the end, only a fraction of that number turned up.