A People’s Budget: A Research and Evaluation Report on Participatory Budgeting in New York City. Cycle 4: Key Research Findings

Summary

Participatory budgeting (PB) is a unique civic engagement process which allows community members—instead of elected officials alone—to determine how public funds should be spent, from start to finish. Four years ago, in 2011-12, a pilot process in four City Council districts brought PB to New York City. Since then the process has expanded significantly. The fourth cycle of PB (2014-15) saw more than 50,000 New Yorkers turn out to vote to determine the allocation of more than $30 million of City Council funds. This report shares key findings about the fourth cycle of PB as well as recommendations for future PB cycles, drawing on data from thousands of voter surveys as well as new PB implementation surveys completed by Council district staff and delegate committee facilitators.

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Read the key findings

Read the findings and demographics broken down by Council District.