UCI races cost VCU thousands in overtime expenses

The UCI Road World Championships did not only cost the city of Richmond a lot in immediate and unanticipated expenditures, VCU shouldered a share of the expenses as well.

The weeklong international cycling event which took place from Sept. 19-27 cost the university about $130,000 in overtime pay for VCU facilities management and police departments.

During UCI, the VCU Police Department spent an average of $10,048 a day in overtime. By comparison, VCUPD spent an average of $2,655 a day on overtime over the course of the last fiscal year. Similarly, facilities management averaged about $4,396 a day in overtime expenses during UCI versus $1,500 a day last year.

According to Richard Bunce, interim vice president for finance and budget at VCU, the event warranted the extra spending in order to “maintain a safe physical environment in support of the university’s mission.”

Corey Byers, the public information officer for VCUPD said the police department appropriated overtime hours based on information provided by Richmond 2015, the group tasked with organizing and bringing the event the city.

“The race routes required extensive road closures twice a day,” Byers said. “Traffic direction by officers and officers stationed along the race route to maintain the safety and integrity of the course.”

According to Byers, the police approved overtime hours in anticipation of an expected 400,000 pedestrians. Byers said the actual numbers was over 600,000 people.

A recent article published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch said neither hotels nor restaurants in Richmond lost revenue as a result of the race, although neither group said they made as much as they had anticipated, either.

“My assessment is, this was not a financial home run for the city of Richmond,” said Edward Millner, a University of Richmond economics professor, to the Times-Dispatch.

Article by: Matt Chaney, Contributing Writer