Participatory Budgeting Project Winners Announced

During a Vote Results Party April 7 at the Citywide Senior Center, City officials, along with Budget and Finance staff, announced the winning projects of the Cambridge's first ever Participatory Budgeting (PB) process. Launched in the fall, PB enabled residents to directly decide how to spend $500,000 of the FY16 Capital Budget.  Over 380 ideas for projects to improve Cambridge were submitted.  From January to March, 40 volunteer Budget Delegates prioritized and developed those ideas into 20 concrete project proposals to be placed on a ballot for the community to vote on.

Over 2,700 Cambridge residents age 12 and older voted online and at events around town to decide which projects the City should fund. 

The following six projects won PB funding for FY16:

• 100 new trees and tree wells in low-canopy neighborhoods ($119,400)
• 20 new laptops for the Community Learning Center ($27,000)
• Bilingual books for children learning English ($7,000)
• Public toilet in Central Square ($320,000)
• 8 bike repair stations ($12,000)
• Free public Wi-Fi in 6 outdoor locations ($42,000)

The above projects totaling $527,400 will be implemented as part of the City of Cambridge FY16 Capital Budget.

Many thanks to the PB Cambridge Steering Committee, the Budget Delegates, the Participatory Budgeting Project, City staff, the Stanford Crowdsourced Democracy Team, and all of the volunteers and participants who helped make this pilot initiative a great success!

Want to get involved?  We’re launching the second round of Participatory Budgeting this summer. Find out more at www.cambridgema.gov/yourbudget.