What Would You do If You Had a Say In How Your Tax Dollars Were Spent?
by David Calhoun
What if there were a way to engage the residents of Neptune City in a way that gave more citizens a say in how a portion of their local property tax dollars were spent? What if there was a program that included Neptune City residents age 14 and above in the process, in order to give our younger citizens a sense of what real civic engagement is all about, at an early age?
The good news is that such a program does exist – it’s called Participatory Budgeting. First introduced locally in Freehold Borough in 2017, it is a revolutionary idea that is being used worldwide, and is only now beginning to gain momentum in the United States. In fact, Freehold Borough is one of only two towns in New Jersey to have implemented this program (West Orange became the second municipality in the state to establish a PB Program in April 2018).
The idea behind Participatory Budgeting is simple, operating under the notion that when the public better understands government functions through personal experiences, more people become involved, transparency becomes a reality, and trust improves.
You can read more about Freehold Borough’s PB Program here:
When Freehold Borough introduced their PB program, they were able to allocate a portion of their existing capital budget to proposals brought forth by residents that would benefit the community as a whole (Capital Budgets are typically made up of money that is held for long term projects, and not part of the annual operating budget).
In its first year, Freehold Borough residents made 13 formal proposals to the Council for projects that they wanted to see implemented in their community. All of the projects were vetted for viability by the Council, then put out to be voted upon by members of the community age 14 and older. The top 3 projects moved on to implementation.
You can read more about the top 3 projects that were selected by residents with their vote for implementation in Freehold Borough here:
The 5 major reasons why Neptune City would benefit from Participatory Budgeting:
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- PB Expands and diversifies civic engagement
- PB Develops meaningful social and economic community impact
- PB Promotes sustainable public good
- PB Creates easy and seamless citizen engagement
- PB Promotes civic-mindedness
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Participatory Budgeting can be done in Neptune City too! We can get the entire community involved in shaping a vision for our town. We can give residents a window into how their local government works. We can get kids involved at an early age to promote civic responsibility. And we can give people a reason to trust that Neptune City’s elected leaders have their best interests in mind when making decisions that will shape the community and affect quality of life. Not just for now, but for future generations looking to make their home here.
Neptune City can be at the forefront of a revolutionary way to engage the community! We should always be looking for ways to continue improving upon what makes us proud to call Neptune City home.