It's a better way to manage public money. Residents' input often makes up for gaps in official knowledge, leading to better, more equitable and innovative solutions while also bringing the people and their government closer together as a community. In the PB process, historically disenfranchised groups are able to participate, and historically marginalized ones tend to participate more, leading to the government hearing new voices. Lastly, reiterating the PB process strengthens civil society by creating new relationships, empowering new leaders, and generally strengthening local democracy.

1. A dedicated source of public funding
2. An agreed upon process and schedule
3. A staff to mediate the process
4. Community volunteers to facilitate the process
5. Outreach to the neighborhood to get people to attend

PB can work in any city!

There are processes as large as New York City, population ~8 million, and as small as Labrador City, Canada, population ~9,000.

Yes and no. An elected official's job is to represent their constituents in the policymaking process. Deciding how to spend public money is often a part of that role, but so is deciding what the decision making process looks like in the first place. Empowering their constituents to use participatory budgeting is one such policy decision. It doesn't hurt that elected officials often become closer to their constituents through the process!

Money can come from all kinds of sources. PB usually comes from discretionary public funds, so there's no need to find a new source of money, just a change to how current budget funds are decided. You can work with specific government agencies to identify which parts of their budget are up to their own discretion. For example, money can come from discretionary funds in elected official's offices or city agencies. You can even look outside of your local government to federal block grants, or non-governmental sources like grassroots fundraising, foundations, or non-profits. Get creative!

The beauty of PB is that it excels at getting new or under-recognized voices in the room. But not automatically! Effective PB uses grassroots organizing, outreach, and neighborly word of mouth to get those who usually don't or can't participate into the process. For example, PB doesn't restrict participation based on citizenship, so immigrants, undocumented folks, and even those under the legal voting age of 18 can take part. As long as you do effective outreach, you'll be incorporating traditionally underserved perspectives into your PB process.

Yes. In some places, PB Has been written into law through a charter change, which can be useful for the long-term viability of the process and public transparency. However, because the vast majority of PB processes use discretionary funds, there is no need for legislation to begin a process. All it takes to start a process is a political commitment by decision-makers to implement projects that win. There's not a need to change who holds budgetary authority.

Most processes use between 1-15% of their local city budget. For larger municipalities, we suggest $1 million per 100,000 residents, so that that invitations to participate are compelling. Though you can do PB with any amount of money, the more funds available, the more impactful the process will be, and the more buy in you'll find among community members. Don't be intimidated, though! At Overfelt High School in San Jose, the PB process decides on $50,000 for 2,800 students. PB doesn't need to stretch into the millions of dollars to be effective or worthwhile.

Other kinds of resources and services that could be helpful would include technical assistance from experienced PB professionals, research and evalution of your process and its impacts, a steering committee drawn from the community to cultivate the process, etc.