Participatory Budgeting
Pilot - Mecklenburg County, NC
Background
Participatory budgeting is a process that allows community members to determine how to best address the needs of their communities. First, the community turns ideas into actual project proposals. Next the public votes on which projects to fund. Finally, Mecklenburg County allocates budget funds to the winning projects.
This program puts decision-making power into the hands of county residents to direct County budget funds toward community sourced projects. PB Meck allowed community members to identify, discuss, and prioritize public spending, and to address issues in their communities in real time.
Challenges
Engaging the community in an equitable, far-reaching way over long periods of time can be challenging.
What We Did
Civility Localized partnered with VettDeck, a full-service marketing agency, to fulfill a 10-month contract with Mecklenburg County to implement its Pilot Participatory Budgeting Program (known as PB Meck) in 2022.
Civility Localized designed and implemented a compensated Community Ambassador Program to reach into each of the six county districts. Our team interviewed, trained, compensated, and supported Community Ambassadors from the beginning of this project to the end.
Civility Localized also met with Mecklenburg County staff & Community Ambassadors throughout the project to maintain momentum, track progress, and meet benchmark goals.
Through this pilot participatory budgeting initiative, Mecklenburg County allocated $3 million in funding for winning projects in their first year of Participatory Budgeting in 2022. This funding was divided among the six County Districts, with each district receiving $500,000 to allocate towards resident-designed projects.
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