Participatory budgeting (PB) is a democratic process where community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. It empowers ordinary people to make informed, democratic, and fair decisions about public spending and revenue, through an annual series of meetings, discussion, and voting. Over 1,500 cities, states, counties, schools, housing authorities, and community organizations around the world have used this process to decide budget investments and priorities.

This event will feature a presentation by the Participatory Budgeting Project on the PB process, how it works, and where it’s taking place in North America. It will also be an opportunity for Seattle residents to share ideas on how PB could work in our city and learn about next steps for making it happen.

For questions, please contact Newell Aldrich at newell.aldrich@seattle.gov or call (206) 386-9011. For more information on participatory budgeting, visit www.participatorybudgeting.org.