New Columbus program lets residents decide the budget
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Columbus begins a financial experiment this week, handing over the keys to a portion of the city's budget to the public for the first time.
Why it matters: The city's inaugural participatory budget represents a small fraction of its overall budget — but it's meant to give residents a direct say in community investment.
Driving the news: A submission portal launched today to kick off the "Our Voice, Our Choice Budget" program.
The big picture: Participatory budgeting is a process by which residents, rather than elected officials, directly decide how a portion of city funds will be used.
- Typically, operating and capital budgets are proposed by Mayor Andrew Ginther and refined by City Council.
Catch up quick: The process began last year with $9 million allocated from the capital budget and the formation of a steering committee to establish guiding principles, criteria for assessing ideas and a voting system.
- Council Member Nick Bankston, the finance committee chair, championed the system and pushed to secure the funding.
What they're saying: Bankston tells Axios he's been intrigued by the concept since encountering it nearly a decade ago while researching for the One Linden Plan.
- He was particularly inspired by how New York City got voters involved.
- "I started to go down a rabbit hole and learn what participatory budgeting is, and it's this amazing thing they have in other cities. … Having the opportunity to bring it to Columbus and do it in the Columbus way is pretty cool."
How it works: With the website live, residents can begin submitting ideas for projects within their neighborhood.
- Each of Columbus' nine council districts gets a $1 million share of funding.
- Volunteer "budget delegates" from each district will work with city staff to assess submissions and turn plausible ideas into proposals with cost estimates and timelines.
- Starting Nov. 2, those proposals will be put to a public vote.
Applicable projects will ideally be impactful to residents' daily lives, but not break the bank.
- They could be street lights, extended sidewalks, pocket parks and other small amenities that might not typically attract Council's attention.
- They could also be something more creative and out-of-the-box.
Between the lines: The allocated $9 million is a microscopic fraction of the city's $2.9 billion capital budget, but Bankston hopes that figure can grow after the first process shows proof of concept.
- "That's my aim and vision, that we start small and manageable, work out the kinks and have bite-sized projects that will actually get done. We're not talking about rec centers or large things like that — we're talking about things that could be immediate action within a year's time."
📥 Planning to submit an idea in your community? Share it with us!
- Email [email protected] and let us know.