Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a new paradigm providing an avenue for community members to engage in a democratic process that gives residents direct access to their tax dollars and allows them to guide where that money will go.
In October 2019, Richmond City Council passed a resolution calling on the city’s administration to set aside money each year for the initiative. It outlined a process for participatory budgeting in the City, but due to COVID-19, the initiative was put on hold. In 2021, the initiative picked up steam again and Storefront for Community Design helped to begin bringing together community collaborators to convene, develop, and implement the process in Richmond. PB can be a complicated process to understand, so we encourage you to keep reading to learn more about PB, how it may be implemented in Richmond, and ways to get involved.
The Participatory Budgeting Approach
This multi-year program will include a community-led effort to reimagine how the city invests in our communities. The final process that is workshopped and realized by community members will follow a similar four-step approach from successful PB precedents. Below is an example of the annual cycle of engagement referenced from the Participatory Budgeting Project.
Brainstorm Ideas: Community members in each Voter District come together in meetings to think about what types of projects they would like to see in their neighborhoods.
Create Project Proposals: Volunteers work with experts to turn people’s ideas into real project proposals. This includes capacity building by meeting with city departments to understand how much items cost and what can be completed in a one-year period.
Vote: After sharing the top projects in their Voter District, the community votes to validate every voice in the community.
Disperse Funding: The projects with the most votes in each Voter District receive funding to be implemented over the next fiscal year.
The Participatory Process; source: participatorybudgeting.org
Each year, the process begins again, community members brainstorm new ideas, turn them into new projects, vote, and funding is dispersed in the following fiscal year. The goal is for PB to become a part of the City of Richmond’s budget process and a new way of equitable governing.
While much of the focus of PB is on the allocation of public dollars, the process will also expand the capacity of residents to be active participants in making community decisions. Residents will broaden their understanding on how project proposals are reviewed by City departments, evaluated by cost, and implemented in neighborhoods. Instead of decisions being made for residents, teenagers and adults will come together to imagine what their neighborhoods can become as they begin to close the gap between social and economic challenges and realize a more collective vision for democracy.
In 2022, with funding from the Community Foundation of greater Richmond, Storefront kicked off the ideation of PB and began working with a consultant who will take this process to the next level. Starting in fall 2022, Matthew Slaats Consulting LLC will collaborate with the PB Steering Commission and community collaborators to create the roadmap for PB and develop a guidebook for Richmond’s process. The goal is to have a guidebook completed by early 2023 and begin educational outreach throughout Richmond. Storefront for Community Design will remain a partner in the project as a fiscal sponsor to assist with funding, provided by the City of Richmond, of the project over the next year.
Learn More About Participatory Budgeting
See below for additional resources to learn more about Participatory Budgeting and it’s impact around the country.