In an effort to support, grow and improve the community, Redwood City has launched the "People's Budget" pilot program in which it asks residents to share ideas and vote on projects to find out how to invest $1 million.
According to the City Council, any Redwood City resident may participate, regardless of age, immigration status or residency.
The Popular Budget is a democratic process, where community members directly decide how to spend part of the public budget.
With this action, Redwood City joins more than 7,000 cities around the world, including Denver, Boston and New York, that are seeking to give community members another way to manage their local budgets.
How does the Popular Budget work and what is the schedule?
There are four main steps to create the People's Budget:
Step 1: Submission of ideas (from January 1 to February 19).
The public and city staff come together to exchange ideas and develop proposals. Information will be shared about the participatory budget and those of the city, and community members will be asked to share their ideas on how to improve or support the community.
Step 2: Voting of projects (from March 19 to May 9).
City staff will present project ideas to the public so that community members can vote on which ones should be included in the budget. Participants will be able to rank their preferences.
Step 3: Announcement (June 2022).
The winning projects will be announced at the June City Council meeting where this year's budget will be reviewed in order to support, grow and improve the community.
Step 4: Implementation and updates (fiscal years 22-23 and later).
As projects prepare for implementation and kick off, City staff can provide regular updates on progress and share any opportunities for the public to participate in the implementation of selected ideas.
Between and during all of these steps, staff will work to determine the eligibility and feasibility of each project and share updates on what is happening with the PB.
How will the projects be selected?
According to the City Council, community members will have the opportunity to vote on all projects through a ranked choice process.
Through a press release, it emphasizes that the final projects will be identified based on the highest votes, the sum of which is less than one million dollars.
Staff will review the feasibility and cost of all ideas before and after the vote.
The highest rated projects will move forward once staff has confirmed that they are feasible and within budget.
What projects are eligible for financing through the People's Budget?
An eligible project must cost less than or equal to $1 million, serve a broad public use or purpose, be one-time purchase or one-time cost, and can be implemented or begin within FY 2022-23.
Those proposals that require recurring funding beyond FY 2022-23, require hiring new or additional City staff, or are available or accessible to only a small number of people, will not be eligible.
If you would like to participate with one or more projects, you can propose them by giving click here.
You may be interested in: COVID-19 affects banks and credit unions in the Bay Area
