The Golden State Warriors made good on their word and have refunded the city of Oakland almost $800,000 spent to host the team's 2017 Championship parade, officials said Thursday.
The city said in an upbeat statement that it's grateful for the $786,998 payment, which offsets the taxpayer money used to pay for the police, fire and public works personnel who staffed the June parade.
But the Warriors had a different take on the reimbursement.
The team said it decided to refund the city despite the fact that the amount they paid is more than double the $300,000 estimate the city gave them before the parade. "We have made this decision despite our disappointment with the process and the large disparity between the two estimates," the Warriors said.
The Warriors are headed to San Francisco, where they broke ground this year on a new arena slated to open in 2019.
Despite that, tens of thousands of loyal fans lined Oakland streets along the parade route to get a glimpse of the team riding atop a double-decker.
