What is Participatory Budgeting?

So, you’ve heard that the City of Richmond is starting a participatory budgeting process and you are a little curious.

Let’s start by watching a short video.

Before we go further, take a second and jot down a few ideas on a piece of paper. What stood out to you? What was something that you saw or heard which was different from your typical experience of engaging with local government? Think about how this could impact Richmond.

We should start by defining some terms.

One of the first things that everyone struggles with is just saying p-a-r-t-i-c-i-p-a-t-o-r-y b-u-d-g-e-t-i-n-g. It is two very long words that do not roll off the tongue. Most people shrink it down to just “PB”. (Not to be confused with peanut butter.) In Brazil they call it the people’s budget, but it can also be called participatory based budgeting or community budgeting. So, let’s break down these words a bit more.

When we use the word participatory in PB, what we mean is collaboration, inclusivity, and equity. We want everyone to feel like they can be a part of the process and have the resources to be active participants. PB not only creates a space for voices to heard but also deeply acknowledge them. Because of this, PB works to break down barriers to participation by meeting people where they are at and overcoming histories of disinvestment and disenfranchisement. Luckily, in Richmond there is a history of being more participatory with efforts like the neighborhood teams, the Neighborhoods in Bloom program, and during the recent Richmond 300 master planning process. A goal with PB is to make this a regular part of what it means to live in Richmond.

Budgeting on the other hand this is tough one, because numbers tend to make our eyes glaze over. Especially when we see pages and pages of numbers, like we do in a normal city budget. For those that struggle to make ends meet, a budget can seem a little pie in the sky. So, let’s step back for a sec. Instead of seeing a budget as a complex list of programs and numbers, what if we see it as a story? What if it is a story that we create to both realize our values (who we are and how we live), but also who we want to be in the future? If we start to think about budgets in this way, when they are about our aspirations and dreams, they become a pathway for building a vision for a city. A vision we all should have a role in helping to create.

How does PB work?

PB has 5 stages and it typically takes about a year to do. The image below does a good job of showing these stages.

1. Design – A group of community members comes together to design how the process will work for and in the community. This is where we are in Richmond now.
2. Ideas – This is where things really get started. Over 2-4 months, we talk with the community in different ways and ask them how they would improve their neighborhood. These ideas are collected and then assessed by the community.
3. Proposals – Once the ideas are organized, groups of people come together for 4-6 months to develop proposals that make the ideas real by doing a bit of research, developing descriptions, creating a budget, and understanding the impact. These are then posted online and shared at events.
4. Voting – A ballot is created with all the proposals and over 2-3 weeks the community gets to vote on the projects they think will have the most impact.
5. Fund – Finally the winning projects are announced at a big celebration and over the next year they are implemented.
6. Oh! There is one more step! We do it again.

Richmond is at the very beginning of these efforts. While it is going to take some time before we really start PB, it is important that the community as a whole learn about PB, follow the planning process, and have a role in making this efforts successful for everyone in the city.

We invite you to contact us, attend a Commission meeting, or follow the website. Be curious. Be hopeful. Help make PB a part of Richmond.