Boston 2024 Olympics Bid In Jeopardy, Walsh Refuses To Sign Cost Overrun Guarantee

BOSTON (CBS) - The fate of Boston's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics is now in the hands of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Mayor Marty Walsh says he won't put the taxpayers at risk and sign a host city agreement without getting the chance to put proper protections in for taxpayers and protect them from cost overruns.

Walsh called a hastily arranged news conference Monday to address reports that the USOC wants Walsh to sign the agreement right away or Boston would lose it's bid.

"I refuse to mortgage the future of the city away.  I refuse to put Boston on the hook for overruns," Walsh said, adding that it's now up to the USOC to decide if they will continue with Boston's bid.

"They want us to sign the contract as soon as possible," Walsh told reporters, but noted, he can't do that.

"They didn't give us a date, but I'm assuming it's soon," he said.

"If committing to signing a guarantee today is what's required to move forward, then Boston is no longer pursuing the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games," Walsh said.

There has been no comment yet from the USOC.

The USOC's board members were scheduled to have a conference call with Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker at 9:30 a.m., reportedly to get his stance on the Boston 2024 bid.

There's no word yet on what happened in that call.

But Baker said last week he won't commit to the bid until he sees the full report from a consultant group he commissioned to analyze the bid.

That report isn't expected to be released until next month.

The official deadline for the committee to submit a U.S. city bid to the International Olympic Committee is September 15.

If the USOC pulls Boston's bid, it's believed Los Angeles would take its place.

Watch: Entire Mayor Walsh News Conference

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports