City of Cambridge Participatory Budgeting

Participatory budgeting is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. It's residents making real decisions about real money.

This 4-minute video by the Participatory Budgeting Project gives a great overview of PB and how it works:

The City hopes that Participatory Budgeting will directly involve residents in the budgeting and city-building process, foster civic engagement and community spirit, and help ensure that the City’s capital plan reflects the priorities of Cambridge residents and stakeholders.

The Outreach Committee approved the following five goals for the PB process:

1.  Expand and Diversify Civic Engagement: Ensure that all community members have a voice in the development and improvement of their city, especially marginalized communities, reticent voters, and people with limited opportunities to engage in the political process.

2.  Have Meaningful Social and Community Impact: Use PB as a tool to effect meaningful social change in the community. PB in Cambridge should be mission-driven and results-oriented.

3.  Promote Sustainable Public Good: Make sustainable decisions that promote the long-term future and wellbeing of Cambridge residents.

4.  Create Easy and Seamless Civic Engagement: Enable the community to be involved without barriers or frictions.  Create a welcoming space for residents to become engaged, fostering a "contagious" civic environment.

5.  Promote Civic-mindedness: Help residents imagine themselves as civic actors and educate each other about their needs and lives. Provide youth with the opportunity and experience to become life-long voters and community leaders.

The City is setting aside $1 million in FY24 capital funds for the 9th PB cycle. Projects are eligible for funding if they meet the following criteria:

• Benefit the public
• Are one-time expenditures that cost $1 million or less
• Are capital projects, (something bought or built)
  • Most capital projects have some sort of associated operating cost. Projects that would require the City to hire additional staff are not eligible.
• Are implemented by the City of Cambridge on City property (streets, sidewalks, parks, libraries, schools, youth centers, senior centers, municipal buildings, etc.)
  • Projects on Cambridge Housing Authority, DCR, and MBTA property are not eligible.
  • PB funding cannot be used to make a grant to a nonprofit organization.
• Are consistent with existing City policies

Before being submitted to the public vote, all projects must be approved by the City Manager to ensure they meet all of the legal requirements of capital projects.

The 9^th PB cycle will run from June-December 2022 and include the following key phases:

• Community members brainstorm and submit IDEAS about how to spend $1 million of the City's FY24 Budget on capital projects to improve Cambridge (June 1-July 31, 2022)
• Volunteer Budget Delegates research and prioritize ideas, ultimately developing final PROPOSALS for the PB Ballot (August-November 2022)
• City staff vet proposals for FEASIBILITY and COST (November 2022)
• Residents VOTE on which projects they’d like the City to fund (December 2022)
• RESULTS are announced and winning projects are included in the City’s FY24 Capital Budget (December 2022 - January 2023)
• Winning projects are IMPLEMENTED (July 2023 onward)

Examples of capital projects include:

• Making improvements to public playgrounds or parks
• Repairing streets and sidewalks
• Installing accessibility ramps on public property
• Renovating public buildings 
• Installing benches or street lights
• Creating a community garden
• Resurfacing a basketball court

The idea collection phase runs from June 1 - July 31, 2022. During that time, community members can submit ideas five ways:

• Online using the interactive online map 
• Emailing: [email protected]
• Calling: 617-349-4270
• Dropping the idea off in the Payment Drop Box in the rear of City Hall
• Mailing: City of Cambridge Budget Office, 795 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139

Idea collection is open to everyone (not restricted to Cambridge residents) of all ages.

PB Delegates are volunteers who work in the fall to research, evaluate, and prioritize the project ideas submitted by community members from August - November. PB Delegates ultimately develop the final project proposals for the annual PB vote in December. They do this through research, community assessments, and site visits, as well as through consultations with City staff regarding project feasibility and cost. Budget Delegates evaluate submitted ideas on three main criteria: need, impact, and feasibility. 

During the 2021 PB process, 50+ Budget Delegates worked in the following 5 committees to narrow down all of the submitted ideas into 20 final project proposals for the ballot: Community Resources, Environment, Parks & Recreation, Streetsmarts, and Youth & Technology.  

If you are interested in volunteering as a PB Delegate, please contact the Cambridge Budget Office at [email protected] or (617) 349-4270.

The PB9 vote will be held December 1-11, 2022 and will be conducted in a way that maximizes access and participation. Cambridge residents who are at least 12 years old (as well as students in the 6th grade), regardless of citizenship status, are eligible to vote in Participatory Budgeting. College/university students whose dorm/apartments are in Cambridge are also eligible to vote. Voters will be able to choose up to 5 of the 20 projects on the PB9 ballot. They do not need to rank their choices or do any math. 

Voters will need an access code to vote online. Residents can obtain codes via text message to their cell phone. People who don't have cell phones can contact the Budget Office at [email protected] to obtain an access code to vote online. The 2021 online ballot was available in English, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish.  

Residents can also vote over the phone in English at (617) 349-4270 and in-person at multiple events around Cambridge. Paper ballots at in-person events last year were available in English, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish.  

Winning projects will be announced at a PB vote results party on December 14 (Location and time TBD). You can read about winning projects from the last PB cycle here.