New York City

The PB Project is proud to serve as the lead technical assistance partner for a new $6 million PB process that started in October 2011 in four City Council districts. City Council Members Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Eric Ulrich, and Jumaane Williams are each setting aside at least $1 million in capital discretionary funds for residents to allocate - a total of around $6 million.

Before the launch, PBP worked closely with the Council Members, lead community partner Community Voices Heard, and a City-Wide Steering Committee of 40 organizations, to design and plan the process. We then helped establish District Committees in each of the four districts, to plan the opening round of neighborhood assemblies and encourage local participation.

Volunteer budget delegates, selected at the assemblies, next meet for 3-4 months to develop final budget proposals. In March 2012, residents in each district will vote on the proposals, and the top vote-getters will be included in the city budget for 2013. We expect this pilot process to expand to additional districts and budget pots once the first cycle is complete.