HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Mail Packet - 07/08/2025 - Memorandum from Rupa Venkatesh re Mid-year Report on Council Training and Travel BudgetCity Manager’s Office
300 Laporte Avenue
PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522
970-221-6684
rvenkatesh@fcgov.com
CC: Sarah Kane, Jaime Jones
MEMORANDUM
Date: July 3, 2025
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
From: Rupa Venkatesh, Assistant City Manager
Subject: Mid-year Report on Council Training and Travel Budget
PURPOSE
During the January 2025 Council planning session, staff committed to providing a report to
Council twice a year with a status update on their Training and Travel budget.
BACKGROUND
As a reminder, the Training and Travel budget is now consolidated into a single fund of $60,000
rather than separate allocations for regular/core travel and development. This equates to $8,570
per Councilmember and it is with the understanding that the funds will not be distributed equally
as individual Councilmembers have different Council committee responsibilities and interests.
As the City is considering various options for budget reductions in 2025 and 2026, several
Councilmembers expressed interest in Council leading by example. One way to do this is to
reduce travel for the remainder of 2025 and, as a result, we are proposing this budget be limited
to $40,000. This can be reassessed as needed.
Councilmember Spending through Q2
Arndt $6,097
Gutowsky $6,976
Pignataro $1,956
Docusign Envelope ID: F4014E42-7503-47F1-B2CA-1B7526B36A12
Canonico $9,074
Potyondy $1,521
Ohlson $0
Francis $1,555
Total $27,179
As it pertains to remaining training and travel opportunities in 2025, there was potential interest
in attending the Colorado Water Congress, UN Climate Week, Colorado Governor Tourism
Conference, Bloomberg City Lab, COP 30 UN Climate Change Conference, and NLC City
Summit. As Councilmembers review this memo, please notify staff of any continued interest.
For comparison, the total Council expenses for training and travel in 2024 was $54,640.
Training and travel expenditures by individual Councilmembers through June 2025 are provided
in the attached document. Please note these figures are currently undergoing reconciliation by
staff and are subject to change.
ATTACHMENT
1.Breakdown of individual Councilmember expenses (Q1-Q2 2025)
Docusign Envelope ID: F4014E42-7503-47F1-B2CA-1B7526B36A12
Breakdown of individual Councilmember expenses (Q1-Q2 2025)
Business
Unit Description City Council
Conference Name
Object Description Councilmember
APA NPC CC4CA CML Coursera
(courses)
Energy and
Env
Symposium
ICLEI Korea ICLEI San
Francisco ITGA NACTO NLC-WIMG NLC Grand Total
Conference and
Travel Arndt - 1,394.62 1,411.52 3,290.39 6,096.53
Canonico 1,516.83 914.70 206.36 3,205.79 3,230.02 9,073.70
Francis 1,554.90 1,554.90
Gutowsky 206.36 1,019.10 2,643.58 3,107.03 6,976.07
Ohlson 0
Pignataro 1,855.75
$100-fee for trip
canceled 1,955.75
Potyondy 1,315.00 206.36 - 1,521.36
Grand Total 3,071.73 914.70 1,315.00 619.08 1,019.10 1,394.62 1,411.52 2,643.58 3,205.79 1,855.75 9,727.44 27,178.31
Docusign Envelope ID: F4014E42-7503-47F1-B2CA-1B7526B36A12