Three hours by car south of Richmond, you will arrive at Greensboro, a town somewhat similar in size to Richmond. In fact, Participatory Budgeting has been in operation in that town as well, dating back to 2014. Greensboro became the first city in the South in 2014 to use such a process and allocated $500,000 of the city’s budget to it. At that time, PB Greensboro volunteers became involved in the official budgeting process, serving as members of the steering committee and in other roles.

In the Greensboro PB process, residents first share ideas for projects to be funded by the city in their district. Those projects are developed with city staff into proposals that will be voted on in each of the city’s five districts. Each district receives up to $100,000 to fund projects. The projects that receive the most votes in each district can be funded; multiple projects in a district will be funded if they cost less than $100,000 and receive enough votes.

The city has created a video which tells overall process of PB in GSO.

One of the distinctive things of the PB in Greensboro is that they highlighted a university student’s proposal, which was to fund an app that would track the local bus schedule. The student’s name is Hassan Black, at North Carolina A&T State University.

When Hassan Black moved to Greensboro, North Carolina, he often rode the bus. And he often spent a lot of time waiting for the bus, because he never quite knew when the next one was arriving. City residents, rather than elected representatives, directly decide how to spend a portion of city funds. His frustration could have ended there, but it didn’t. Through a friend, he heard about a process called participatory budgeting, and he proposed his own idea. City staff opposed the app, arguing that it could not be funded because an app requires ongoing maintenance. The student argued that the project would be beneficial for the community, particularly for minority community members who are more likely to use public transportation. The app ultimately made it on the ballot, but city officials determined that because the app would be used by the entire city it needed to be one of the top-voted projects in each of the city’s districts. While this created a significant hurdle, the app received enough votes and ultimately was funded. The Greensboro Transit Authority is now installing software that will allow passengers to track bus movements and better plan their days.

In years past, Greensboro’s budget would simply have been presented at a public hearing. While residents who attended those meetings could make recommendations, the truth is that by the time a budget was formally proposed it was difficult to change. As one of the Council Member said: “At a typical budget meeting, you come and then we tell you what we are going to do.”

Richmond’s PB project will enter the idea collection season sooner or later. The degree to which we are able to obtain input and ideas from residents and students of all races, ages, and backgrounds will make a big difference in how well participatory budgeting itself is completed.

The idea collection will play a very important role.

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