Voting begins for first round of participatory budgeting process

For residents across the city of Boston, a long-pending opportunity to have a more direct voice in how the city spends its money is finally here.

Voting for the inaugural participatory budgeting process, in which Boston residents have the chance to vote to fund initiatives through 14 different proposals generated from community input, opened last week.

Those proposals offer to tackle issues across the city from installing benches at high-traffic bus stops or rodent prevention initiatives, to addiction support services or expanding youth job programming.

“I think the ideas are representative of who showed up in the process and their ideas, because they’re really widespread in terms of their impact, and also really focused on equity. That is the goal of Boston’s participatory budgeting project,” said Eliza Parad, director of municipal democracy at the Center for Economic Democracy, who called the opening of voting a “very exciting moment for Bostonians.”

Voting is one of the final stages in a process that began over the summer, when residents had the opportunity to submit ideas over a month-and-a-half period through July into August.

Throughout the fall, the over 1,000 ideas generated by residents were workshopped and developed into a final set of 14 proposals on which Bostonians can now vote. Voting opened Jan. 15 and runs through Feb. 15.

“We’re excited to have residents vote on these initiatives to help drive how the city can deliver on the issues that matter most in our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Michelle Wu, in a press release announcing the opening of the voting period.

The participatory budgeting process was launched following a 2021 ballot question in which 68% of voters approved the creation of the Office of Participatory Budgeting, alongside other changes to the city’s budgeting process, including giving city councilors the ability to amend the city’s budget.

Opening the opportunity for residents to vote on the budget is an act of optimism and marks the potential for dramatic change, said Nosica Verdieu, an organizer with the Youth Justice and Power Union. The group, alongside the Center for Economic Democracy, is part of the steering committee of the Better Budget Alliance, a coalition of organizations focused on increasing residents’ voice in the city’s budget.

“The fact that the participatory budget was not something that we could even think about having, and the fact that we have it came from wishful thinking and being dreamers,” Verdieu said.

Key to the vision of the moment, she said, is the wide range of people who can participate in the process. Voting is open to all Bostonians regardless of citizenship, 11 years old and above.

For Verdieu — who, at 22 years old, has been involved in organizing since she was 14 — the ability to participate in affecting the city’s budget represents an opportunity that she didn’t have when she was younger, to actually have a voice in what happens in their community.

“It means that there is someone who’s currently 14, 13, 12, 11, who actually has a say in their community,” Verdieu said. “And it’s not just wishful thinking or what would the future look like, but it’s actually, presently, ‘This is the change that I could make, and I have a voice to make that change.’”

Push for more funding

Throughout the process, the amount of funding approved for the participatory budget process has been a point of contention between the Wu administration and advocates.

Advocates from the Center for Economic Democracy had pushed for a $40 million investment in the process — about 1% of the city budget.

Instead, Wu and the Office of Participatory Budgeting said the city would make $2 million available. In comparison, Somerville and Cambridge, which both previously launched their own participatory budgeting efforts — Somerville in 2023 and Cambridge in 2014 — started with $1 million and $500,000, respectively, but have populations that are roughly eight and five-and-a-half times smaller than that of Boston.

Since fiscal year 2022, the city budgets have included over $6 million directed toward participatory budgeting in the city.  Some of that was transferred out to the city’s special revenue fund, leaving about $5 million remaining.

In August, Renato Castelo, director of the Office of Participatory Budgeting, said Boston was starting small to make sure that the pilot program can get things right.

As voting opens, advocates continue their push to increase funding, this time with a majority of city councilors on their side.

At the City Council’s first meeting of the year, Jan. 8, the body passed a resolution recommending the use of more funds for the first cycle of the program, with eight councilors voting in favor and three opposed.  One councilor voted present and another was absent.

The resolution, which was led by District 9 Councilor Liz Breadon, recommended that the $5 million currently allocated for participatory budgeting be made available for use in this round.

At the council meeting, at-large Councilor Julia Mejia described the vote as an opportunity to show support for those who have been asking councilors to stand up for them.

“Boston residents voted overwhelmingly to put the decision-making power directly in the hands of the people,” Mejia said. “This is about honoring that promise and ensuring that our budget reflects the priorities and values of our communities.”

The resolution was filed in early December, before the specifics, including proposed allocations for each initiative, were finalized. Parad said that at the time the Better Budget Alliance was hoping an increase in funds would mean each proposal would get a higher dollar amount attached to it.

But the resolution was sent to committee, and now each proposal has an estimated funding amount. With the proposals squared away, if the Wu administration agrees to the increased amount of funding to the participatory budget process, Parad said the Alliance instead hopes that additional projects could be added beyond the cap of five that the city has set.

The estimated allocations for all 14 proposed projects total just under $5.5 million.

The council resolution is non-binding, so it’s up to the Wu administration to decide to act on the recommendation, a move which seems unlikely. In an email to the Banner, the city said the Office of Participatory budgeting has consistently discussed a clear need to leave money available so there’s sufficient funding for future rounds.

Parad said she sees the Council’s vote to use all the currently available funds as an indication that the city’s legislative body wants to see continued new investments in the program in future city budgets.

She said the Better Budget Alliance plans to continue to advocate increases to the participatory budget funding, as well as other ways for residents to have a voice in the city budget.

At the City Council meeting, three councilors voted against the resolution. In remarks, District 7 Councilor Ed Flynn, who voted against the resolution, cast the recommended increase to the participatory budget funding in contrast with other needs faced by city residents.

Top of mind for Flynn was relief for homeowners facing tax increases as property taxes rose for residents. In December, a proposal from the city to shift some of that burden to commercial property owners — a measure that state legislators had to approve — failed in the state Senate. Wu renewed that effort with an updated home rule petition on Jan. 13.

Flynn said he thinks, instead of directing more funding toward the participatory budgeting process, that any unspent funds be returned to the city’s general fund and directed toward supporting residents struggling with rising property taxes instead of what he described as a “social experiment,” saying that “times have changed” since Bostonians voted on the measure.

“We can’t afford to be experimenting with every single program that comes online. Now is the time for leadership,” said Flynn.

But to Parad, the present moment, where budgets are tight and needs are in competition, is the perfect time to lean into a system like participatory budgeting, which lets the residents feel how the city’s budget plays out.

“If [departments’ budgets] can’t be increased, if there, you know, is a revenue decrease or staying the same, that’s actually a moment to go back to the people who are most impacted by that budget — in other words, residents — and say, ‘What should we use our more limited resources around? What are the priorities for you?’”

The voting process runs through Feb. 15, with Bostonians able to cast their votes online, or in person at Boston City Hall. According to the city, Boston Public Library branches will be able to provide assistance with online voting.

In a statement to the Banner, a city spokesperson said officials in the Office of Participatory Budgeting look “forward to having our residents’ voices heard.”

Parad said that she encourages as many residents as possible to get involved in the voting process, in this opportunity for Bostonians to decide how they want the city to spend this chunk of its budget.

“Now is your chance to say how you want that money to be spent,” she said. “It’s taken us a couple years to get to this moment, but we’re here. You voted for it then, and now you get to actually allocate real money.”