VANCOUVER - Vancouver's 2010 organizing committee is open to ideas on how the city could save money on the beleaguered Olympic athletes village project, the Games' top boss said Tuesday.

But John Furlong said 2010 organizers aren't considering any cuts of their own.

Furlong, the chief executive officer for the committee known as VANOC, said they're willing to work with the city of Vancouver to make sure the project is delivered on time.

"In our budget, the No. 1 priority is to protect the athletes' conditions for the games," Furlong told reporters after the unveiling of the official postage stamps for the Olympics.

"That isn't to say we wouldn't work with the city to look at anything they come up with that's an idea."

The city has been covering the cost of construction on the village since October, when the lender stopped payment pending a renegotiation of a $750-million construction loan taken out by the developers.

They're now looking to borrow the remaining $458 million needed to get the village done on time, in case the deal falls through altogether.

The financial exposure to the city is risky enough that rating agency Standard & Poor's placed a watch on Vancouver's "AA+" long-term issuer credit and senior unsecured debt ratings Tuesday, saying the impact on the city's debt from the deal could be significant.

"Depending on the scope of the city's financial obligation, we believe Vancouver's potential debt burden might not be consistent with the "AA+" rating," Stephen Ogilvie, a primary credit analyst, said in his report.

"Standard & Poor's expects to resolve the CreditWatch when the full extent of the city's financial obligations to complete the project is known (keeping in mind the eventual cost recovery that could occur from the sale of the housing units) and the impact on Vancouver's debt profile is clear," the report said.

The city hasn't yet suggested it would make changes to the design or specifications of the village because, under the terms of a 2007 guarantee on the construction loan, the city committed to delivering the project in accordance with the developer's original guidelines.

VANOC is expected to take possession of the village's 1,100 units and other facilities this fall.

Two-thirds of the housing units are to be sold to the public after the Games or will be used as rentals, while 250 will be set aside for social and affordable housing.

Overall, the development has a budget of $1 billion, taking into account the cost of the prime waterfront land it sits on, construction and cost overruns. Another athletes village is being built in Whistler, the co-host of the Games, to house 2,400 athletes and officials there and it has a separate budget.

News of the trouble plaguing the Vancouver village has spread worldwide and Furlong said he is getting questions from the international community and has briefed the International Olympic Committee.

"When you look at our project in general over the life of it I think there's a high degree of optimism and respect for the amount of work that's been accomplished," Furlong said.

"This is one obviously nobody is very happy about but I think there is a belief that we have the focus and the attitude, the determination and the belief to get this to where it needs to be."

The athletes village is the only major construction project yet to be completed for the 2010 Games.

All of the sporting venues are now built and test events are being held this winter to make sure they're Games-ready.

While the city has hired auditing firm KPMG to review the financial structure of the village deal, the provincial NDP is calling on B.C.'s auditor general to launch his own investigation.

The auditor general has already accused B.C.'s Liberal government of sweeping some Olympic-related costs under the rug and refused to release the last scheduled review of the $600-million provincial Olympic budget because it said the province wouldn't give it all the information it wanted.

"Hopefully the auditor general will be able to provide some unbiased answers about the total cost of the Olympic village and the extent of the liabilities for provincial and local taxpayers," Opposition Leader Carole James said in a statement.

The province is not directly funding the Vancouver athletes' village, though it will contribute to the cost of the social housing units being created.