Yesterday saw the launch of a new $6 million participatory budgeting process in New York.  The program will involve four New York City Council districts and will be conducted in collaboration with the Participatory Budgeting Project.

City Council Members Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Eric Ulrich and Jumaane Williams are asking residents of their districts to decide how to spend at least $1 million in capital budget funds. Currently committees are planning neighborhood assemblies which will start in October.  These will select volunteer delegates who will meet for 3-4 months to develop final proposals and then, in March 2012, residents will vote directly on the proposals, to decide which will be included in the city’s 2013 budget.

This is the second participatory budgeting process in the US and representatives of the Participatory Budgeting Project hope that this first round will be only the beginning of participatory budgeting in New York City.

You can find out more about the project in this article in the New York Times