Residents in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood are helping decide how $100,000 in grant funding will be spent through a participatory budgeting pilot.
The program is being organized by Participatory Budgeting Cleveland, also known as PB CLE, and allows neighborhood residents to propose and vote on community projects.
Participatory budgeting gives residents a direct role in deciding how a defined pool of money should be used rather than leaving every funding decision to government officials or grant organizations.
Pilot Gives Residents a Direct Vote
The Slavic Village project is much smaller than a citywide proposal Cleveland voters considered in 2023.
That ballot initiative would have allowed residents to decide how to spend roughly $14 million from Cleveland’s general fund. The proposal was defeated by a narrow margin.
After the election, organizers developed a smaller pilot supported by private funding rather than city general-fund dollars. Funding includes money raised previously by the organization and support from the Partnership for Equitable and Resilient Communities.
Slavic Village was selected as the neighborhood for the demonstration project.
Program Follows 2023 Citywide Ballot Effort
Organizers hope the process will show how residents can identify local priorities, develop project ideas and make funding decisions through a public voting process.
The $100,000 program also gives Cleveland officials and community organizations a smaller-scale example to evaluate if participatory budgeting is considered for other neighborhoods in the future.
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