Hosting the start of the Tour de France is set to cost Leeds City Council around £3.6m, the Yorkshire Evening Post has learned.
Council leaders have stressed the spending on the ‘Grand Depart’ will help bring major economic benefits to the region, estimated at around £100m.
The first detailed figures on the costs facing the council show around £1.1m will go on spending on roads.
Venue costs run to £70,000, £63,000 will be spent on hospitality and £165,000 has been earmarked for event management.
The council is expecting the festival linked to the Grand Depart will cost £97,000 while “cleansing” will require £12,000.
Other costs, such as IT and communications and the hosting fee paid to Tour de France organisers ASO, are expected to add up to £2m.
The figures represent Leeds City Council’s share of the bill with the overall cost thought to be in the region of £10m.
Council leader Keith Wakefield said: “Hosting the Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France is in my view the biggest sporting coup Yorkshire has ever achieved. The eyes of the world will be firmly on the city and the region next July, offering profile-raising and promotional opportunities for the county on an unprecedented scale.
“While this is a significant amount of money, the expected return on that investment for the region is likely to be well in excess of £100m, a ten-fold return which will provide an incredible boost to the economy of Leeds and Yorkshire. “
Earlier this week, Prime Minister David Cameron promised the Government was looking at ways to help meet the cost after hearing from Welceome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity.
Taxpayers Alliance chief executive Matthew Sinclair said: “This must not become an excuse for council staff and quangocrats to run up huge bills at taxpayers’ expense as has happened at so many similar events before.”
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