PURPOSE:  The City of Evanston allocated $3.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to Participatory Budgeting (PB) at the December 6, 2021 Special City Council meeting. Also at that Special City Council meeting, the Participatory Budgeting Committee was established by a vote of City Council. This committee was established to oversee the implementation of a Participatory Budgeting process.

On June 27, 2022 City Council  approved Resolution 45-R-22, Authorizing the City Manager to hire a full-time Participatory Budgeting Manager, and part-time Participatory Budgeting Coordinator. Also at the June 27, 2022 City Council meeting, the City Council approved a Sole-Source Partnership and Services Agreement with Northwestern University to design a Participatory Budgeting process. You can find more information about the Participatory Budgeting process at pbevanston.org or by watching the Participatory Budgeting Town Hall Kick-off.

The Participatory Budgeting Process was conducted from September 2022 to October 2023. During the process, community members worked together to submit ideas, develop ideas into proposals, and then vote on what proposals to fund. In the month of September 2023, 6565 Evanston community members voted in the Participatory Budgeting Election.  That means approximately 8.4% of the community participated, making it one of most successful PB programs ever. Now projects are moving into the implementation phase. For updates on Implementation, go to pbevanston.org or the City's PB webpage.

MEMBERS:

Ald. Devon Reid (Chair)

Ald. Bobby Burns

Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma

Mayor Daniel Biss

PLACE: Virtual

STAFF:

Matthew Ouren
Participatory Budgeting Manager

Agenda and Minutes