Participatory Budgeting Evanston 2022-2023

Participatory budgeting (PB) lets residents vote on how to spend a portion of the city’s budget. Residents generate ideas, develop proposals, vote on which proposals to fund, and the city implements the winning proposals.

In Evanston, PB allowed community members who lived, worked or studied in the city to decide how spend $3 million to address our city’s needs, make government policy more equitable, and train future leaders.

Over 6500 people voted (8.4% of Evanston’s 78,000 residents) - a nation leading turnout.

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Winning proposals

  • Mental Health First Aid Training – 3,400 votes ($50,000)

  • Grants/Incentives for Activities and Education Support for Marginalized Students in Grades 3-12 – 3,117 votes ($700,000)

  • Evanston Urban Farm – 3,014 votes ($350,000)

  • Affordable Housing Subsidy – 2,918 votes ($810,000)

  • Affordable Refugee Housing – 2,890 votes ($645,000)

  • Youth and Young Adult Drop-In Center – 2,692 votes ($210,000)

  • Small Business Grants – 2,095 votes ($150,000)

Over 6500 people voted (8.4% of Evanston’s 78,000 residents) — congratulations Evanston on this historic turnout!

What is Participatory Budgeting?

  • The City council PB Committee allocated $3m for the participatory budgeting and additional funding for staff, technical assistance and implementation.

  • The steering committee writes the rulebook for how the PB process will work. The rulebook defines who can participate, what projects are eligible for funding, how we will include underrepresented community members, and so on.

    Steering committee members:

    • meet monthly, face to face, at the civic center

    • write the rulebook

    • organize 2 idea collection and 2 voting events

    • reach out to community members

    • keep an eye on project implementation.

    Organizations and individuals can apply to the steering committee in August 2022. Applicants will be selected by city council members, with a preference for members who can represent and mobilize underrepresented community members.

  • Community members organize 90 min idea collection assemblies where anyone can show up, learn about participatory budgeting, and generate ideas in small group. Participants can sign up to become budget delegates who will develop ideas into full projects.

  • Budget delegates meet in small committees over several months to develop ideas from the neighborhood assemblies into about 12 full projects that will go on the ballot.

    Budget delegates prioritize ideas, research ideas, ask their community members for feedback, and develop budgets with city staff.

    This participatory budgeting process is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, so projects must help Evanston recover from the pandemic for example by:

    • providing government services to address lost revenue

    • improving public health

    • improving economic development

    • providing premium pay for essential workers

    • improving water, sewer & broadband infrastructure

  • Community members get to vote on which projects to fund with the $3m of ARPA funding.

    In person voting will be held at project expos and community centers.

  • After the vote, city staff will implement the winning projects.

Partners

  • City of Evanston

  • Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI)

  • Evanston Art Center

  • Evanston Cradle to Career (C2C)

  • Evanston Present and Future

  • Evanston Township High School (ETHS)

  • NAACP Evanston/North Shore Branch

  • League of Women Voters

  • Mitchell Museum of the American Indian

  • Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy

  • Northwestern University Center for Civic Engagement

  • Evanston Public Library

  • Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.)

  • McGaw YMCA

  • YMCA Evanston/North Shore

  • Evanston Latinos

  • Evanston Cricket Club

  • Haitian Community Organization (HCO)