05 - May 29, 2025 Sister City Program Costs
CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
Date: May 29, 2025
To: Cupertino City Council
From: Tina Kapoor, Acting City Manager
Re: Sister City and Friendship City Program Costs
Background
Council has expressed interest in receiving a more detailed accounting of the costs,
including budgeted and indirect costs, associated with administering the Sister and
Friendship City program. In 2023, staff prepared a table outlining these costs, which is
included as Attachment A. This memo provides updated information on staff support,
travel, facility usage, and other program-related expenses. These details are also
included as a table, in Attachment B (FY 24) and Attachment C (FY 25).
Budgeted Costs
The FY 2025 budget includes a total of $59,011 of expenses for the Sister Cities program.
These expenses include the following:
Expenditures Adopted Budget
Employee compensation and benefits: 5% of Full Time
Communications and Marketing Coordinator $10,517
Materials: Council travel expenses, gifts, membership $8,887
Contracts: Policy allocates up to $5k for each Sister City $20,000
Cost Allocation/Contingencies: Other staff/overhead expenses $19,607
Total $59,011
These budgeted expenses are aligned with the Sister and Friendship City Policy, which
outlines that the City will provide gifts for sister city delegations, pay for 50% of a
councilmembers travel expenses, pay for the Sister Cities International membership, and
reimburse each Sister City with a student delegation with up to $5,000.
Staff Time
All program budgets account for staff time and overhead expenses through the
employee and cost allocation expenditures, listed above. Combining the employee costs
($10,517) with the cost allocation/contingencies ($19,607), the staff and overhead
expenses for the Sister Cities program for FY 25 is $30,124.
Throughout this fiscal year, staff time dedicated to Sister and Friendship City activities
resulted in an estimated 465 hours as follows:
• Delegation preparation, tours, and presentations: about 70 hrs./yr
• Festival Support - Parks & Recreation/Public Works Staff: about 305 hrs./yr
• Event attendance and support: about 35 hrs./yr
• Speechwriting and proclamation support: about 5 hrs./yr
• Media and video production: about 50 hrs./yr
Significantly, about 305 hours are attributed to the Cherry Blossom and Bhubaneswar
festivals. These hours result in an approximate value of $24,738, based on the staff rates
within Public Works and Parks and Recreation. The additional 160 hours are attributed
to all other operational/administrative activities for the program, which results in an
approximate value of $13,221 based on the staff allocated rate within the City Manager’s
Office.
In total, these hours amount to about $37,959 in staff costs for this fiscal year. This total is
$7,835 over the budgeted amount for employee costs and cost allocation expenditures
that are already in the FY 25 adopted budget. This increase is due to Sister City and
Friendship City programs resuming to pre-COVID activity levels, which began to ramp
up in 2023. Staff time will fluctuate on a year-by-year basis for all programs and an
adjustment to staff allocations can be made in the future if needed.
Friendship Cities and International Delegations
Of the staff hours and costs listed above, 15 hours of staff time, totaling an estimated
$1,175.42, are attributed to Friendship City delegation visits this fiscal year. During these
visits, staff prepared nominal promotional items for guests, that did not exceed the $25
limit per gift. These expenses are budgeted on an annual basis. The policy allows the
City to provide Friendship Cities and international delegations with certain promotional
items, but they are not eligible for any facility waivers or other perks. Over this past
fiscal year, there have been a total of two Friendship City and one International
Delegation visits.
Travel Costs
The Sister City policy allows for one international visit, for the Mayor or their designee,
to one of the four sister cities each year. For FY 2025, the City has paid a total of $6,665.51
in costs associated with Sister City travel to Bhubaneshwar. These expenses are
budgeted on an annual basis. Any travel costs paid by the Sister City Committee are
unknown at this time, as their financial reports will be collected at the end of this fiscal
year.
Indirect Costs
In addition to the budgeted expenses outlined above, the Sister City program incurs
indirect costs related to facility use and festival fee waivers. Friendship Cities and other
international delegations are not eligible for these waivers.
Facility Fee Waivers
The Sister City policy allows each Sister City committee with a student delegation to use
small meeting room space (not including Community Hall or the Cupertino room at
Quinlan) at no cost to the committee up to 18 times per calendar year. They are also
allowed complimentary access to a large City facility up to three times per fiscal year.
Sister cities who do not have a student delegation are only allowed up to four small
meeting room uses per calendar year. As of 2024, all four sister cities have student
delegations and per the policy are allowed the 18 uses for small meeting rooms and 3
uses for large meeting rooms.
In calendar year 2024 and FY 2025, the four Sister City Committees used the following
city facilities:
Sister City
Small Meeting Room Uses
Calendar Year: Jan-Dec 2024
Large Meeting Room Uses
Fiscal Year: July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025
# of uses Hours Waived
Fees
# of uses Hours Waived Fees
Toyokawa 9 24.5 $525 3 9 $353
Hsinchu 0 0 $0 1 6 $180
Copertino 0 0 $0 1 2 $60
Bhubaneshwar 0 0 $0 1 4.5 $360
Total 9 24.5 $525 6 21.5 $953
Festival Fee Waivers
Information on all festival fee waivers are included in the adopted and proposed
budgets as part of the Cultural Events program budget (100-61-605). Information specific
to Sister Cities are included in Attachments A, B, and C.
Fees collected by the City are included in the budget as revenue, not expenses, therefore
these waived fees are indirect costs that are not included in the budget as they are not
expenses for the City. Staff time to set up these rooms and facilitate events are included
in the staff costs above.
Sustainability Impact
No sustainability impact.
Fiscal Impact
The costs of administering the Sister and Friendship City program for FY 25 is about
$91,910, of which $67,919 is attributed to the Cherry Blossom and Bhubaneswar
Festivals. A detailed breakdown for each fiscal year from 2022-2025 is included in
Attachments A, B, and C.
City Work Program Item/Description
None
Council Goal
Fiscal Strategy, Public Engagement and Transparency
_____________________________________
Prepared by: Astrid Robles, Acting Assistant to the City Manager
Reviewed by: Kristina Alfaro, Director of Administrative Services
Rachelle Sanders, Director of Parks and Recreation
Approved for Submission by: Tina Kapoor, Acting City Manager
Attachments:
A – FY 22-23 Sister City Program Costs Table
B – FY 23-24 Sister City Program Costs Table
C – FY 24-25 Sister City Program Costs Table
Recreation
Staff Cost
Facility/Park/
Road Permits
Public Works
Staff Cost Sheriff
Policy
Allocated
Expenses
Bhubaneswar Sister City
Initiative Festival $2,160 $6,980 $3,517 $3,744 $16,401
Cherry Blossom Festival $5,578 $17,520 $9,010 $10,944 $43,052
Council Policy:
Student Delegation Fund for
4 Sister Cities
(up to $5k each)*
$11,347 $11,347
Council Policy:
Set‐up and access to large
City facility for up to 3
community events per
organization (City‐supported
Committees)
$301 $238 $539
Council Policy:
Meeting room space for up to
18 times per organization
(City‐supported Committees)
$74 $408 $482
Council Policy:
Meeting room space for up to
4 times per organization
(Non City‐supported
Committees)
$0
Council Policy:
Promotional gifts to govt
representatives from visiting
countries max $25 each
$94 $94
Council Policy:
Travel expenses to cover 50%
of Council travel for Sister
City Visits/ Conference
$832 $832
Budgeted Staff Time to
Facilitate Program (0.1 FTE)
and other staff costs
$19,591 $19,591
Total $8,113 $25,146 $12,527 $14,688 $31,864 $92,338
Sister City Program Costs
FY 22‐23
Waived Fees City Paid Expenses
Total
Attachment A: FY 22‐23 Sister City Program Costs Table
Recreation
Staff Cost
Facility/Park/
Road Permits
Public Works
Staff Cost Sheriff
Policy
Allocated
Expenses
Bhubaneswar Sister City
Initiative Festival $2,160 $6,980 $3,517 $3,744 $16,401
Cherry Blossom Festival $5,578 $17,520 $9,010 $10,944 $43,052
Council Policy:
Student Delegation Fund for
4 Sister Cities
(up to $5k each)*
$12,895 $12,895
Council Policy:
Set‐up and access to large
City facility for up to 3
community events per
organization (City‐supported
Committees)
$595 $678 $1,273
Council Policy:
Meeting room space for up to
18 times per organization
(City‐supported Committees)
$64 $348 $412
Council Policy:
Meeting room space for up to
4 times per organization
(Non City‐supported
Committees)
$0
Council Policy:
Promotional gifts to govt
representatives from visiting
countries max $25 each
$6,156 $6,156
Council Policy:
Travel expenses to cover 50%
of Council travel for Sister
City Visits/ Conference
$0 $0
Budgeted Staff Time to
Facilitate Program (0.1 FTE)
and other staff costs
$19,148 $19,148
Total $8,397 $25,526 $12,527 $14,688 $38,199 $99,337
Sister City Program Costs
FY 23‐24
Waived Fees City Paid Expenses
Total
Attachment B: FY 23‐24 Sister City Program Costs Table
Recreation
Staff Cost
Facility/Park/
Road Permits
Public Works
Staff Cost Sheriff
Policy
Allocated
Expenses
Bhubaneswar Sister City
Initiative Festival $2,522 $6,140 $3,961 $3,612 $16,235
Cherry Blossom Festival $6,622 $21,649 $11,633 $11,780 $51,684
Council Policy:
Student Delegation Fund for
4 Sister Cities
(up to $5k each)*
*$0 $0
Council Policy:
Set‐up and access to large
City facility for up to 3
community events per
organization (City‐supported
Committees)
$595 $953 $1,548
Council Policy:
Meeting room space for up to
18 times per organization
(City‐supported Committees)
$88 $525 $613
Council Policy:
Meeting room space for up to
4 times per organization
(Non City‐supported
Committees)
$0
Council Policy:
Promotional gifts to govt
representatives from visiting
countries max $25 each
$1,943 $1,943
Council Policy:
Travel expenses to cover 50%
of Council travel and Staff
travel for Sister City Visits/
Conference
$6,666 $6,666
Budgeted Staff Time to
Facilitate Program (0.1 FTE)
and other staff costs
$13,221 $13,221
Total $9,827 $29,267 $15,594 $15,392 $21,830 $91,910
Attachment C: FY 24‐25 Sister City Program Costs Table
Sister City Program Costs
FY 24‐25
Waived Fees City Paid Expenses
Total
*This is on a reimbursement basis only. Reimbursement requests occur in June.
Annual average since 2019: $10,240