A new report by Public Agenda explains how over 101,000 residents of the USA and Canada have been involved in deciding on over $60m of public funds through PB.
In "A Process of Growth:The Expansion of Participatory Budgeting in the United States and Canada in 2015 – 16″ they explain how this is happening. Some of the findings from the report show PB is growing at an impressive rate
Sixty-one communities used PB in 2015-16, including 24 that were new to the process. This represents a growth of 33 percent in the number of PB processes from 2014–15. Much of this growth occurred in small towns. Ten of the 24 newly launched processes (42 percent) were undertaken in communities with populations under 50,000 people.
PB also saw a significant growth in the number of people participating and the amount of public money spent through the process. A total of 101,026 people voted in PB processes in 2015-16, a 38 percent increase from the 73,381 people who voted in 2014–15. These voters decided on how to spend $60.8 million in public money, a 30 percent increase from the $46.7 million allocated through PB in 2014–15.
- Read the full report