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Jackson council trims travel budget amendment to $10,000, approves WAM attendance
Summary
Jackson council debated a proposed $15,000 amendment to its travel and training budget and, after discussion about equity and tracking, amended the motion to add $10,000; the council passed the amendment unanimously and approved registration and travel for WAM's winter convention and the legislative session.
The Jackson Town Council on Jan. 5 voted unanimously to amend the council’s travel and training budget by $10,000 and approved registration and related travel expenses for councilors to attend the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) winter convention and the legislative session.
Councilors debated whether to add $15,000, noting tight municipal budgets but also the value of relationship-building at state and national meetings. Councilor (Speaker 8) said, “I’m comfortable with amending the budget, but only for WAM this year,” while another member warned the council had been approving extra spending "lately," urging fiscal caution.
Finance director Kelly Thompson said past practice was to start the year at about $15,000 for travel and that amended totals over the fiscal year have in the past reached roughly $20,000–$30,000. Councilors discussed parity and tracking so that one member’s travel does not use the entire fund, and one councilor successfully moved to reduce the initial $15,000 amendment to $10,000; that amended motion passed unanimously.
The council also approved a motion directing the town’s WAM representative to propose the list of staff-suggested interim topics — which include workforce housing authority, local revenue options, and possible legislation addressing ticket scalping at the Jackson rodeo — to WAM’s legislative leadership committee.
The council did not identify specific individual trip approvals beyond authorizing registration and related expenses for WAM and the legislative session; follow-up allocations and tracking were discussed as items to address during the budget process and at upcoming meetings.
