The mayor of Michael Jackson's home town, Gary, Indiana, said his cash-strapped city paid $5,000 to fly Michael Jackson's father and seven other people out from Los Angeles to attend a July memorial for his son.

Mayor Rudy Clay insisted Joe Jackson wasn't paid any money to attend the 10 July memorial in downtown Gary, near the Jackson family's former two-bedroom boyhood home.

"Joe Jackson came in here for one reason: for his son, and he wanted to be with his 31 other family members who live in Gary," he said. "There was no fee for Joe Jackson to appear. Absolutely not."

While city money helped pay to fly Jackson, the musical group the Chi-Lites and security from Los Angeles to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Clay said donations already made or promised to the city will cover all of the memorial's expenses.

He said Gary is currently about $2,000 short of breaking even on the memorial's costs, though he could not provide the total cost for the tribute, which was held at a minor league baseball park.