MJ memorial gig’s $1.4 mn bill ‘rips off’ LA City Council

London, July 13: Los Angeles City Council officials are apparently in talks about who should pay the 1.4 million dollar bill for Michael Jackson`s memorial concert.The Mayor`s office previously revealed nearly 17, 000 dollars were donated to a website collecting cash before it collapsed.

Councilman Dennis Zine believes that taxpayers, who have been asked to make donations, "are getting ripped off”, reports the BBC. Zine has called for a review on policing and traffic control costs that stemmed from last week`s service at the Staples Center, considering that the city is already in debt for half of a billion dollars. The councilman said that promoter AEG Live or the Jackson family should foot the bill for the thousands of police officers and emergency services deployed at the event attended by 17,000 fans. Zine apparently asked at a meeting whether the organiser or producers might provide "reimbursement to the city to replenish the public safety and other critical funds." However, AEG President Tim Leiweke said that the company did fund the memorial itself. ANI