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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCS-17-028 - Participatory Budgeting REPORT TO: Council DATE OF MEETING: February 27, 2017 SUBMITTED BY: Ryan Hagey, Director of Financial Planning 519-741-2200 x 7353 PREPARED BY: Ryan Hagey, Director of Financial Planning 519-741-2200 x 7353 WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: February 1, 2017 REPORT NO.: FCS-17-028 SUBJECT: Participatory Budgeting ___________________________________________________________________________ RECOMMENDATION: For Discussion BACKGROUND: Council identified participatory budgeting as an area of interest as part of their strategic planning process. Most recently, the 2017-2019 Business Plan – Strategic Actions (report CAO-16-031) identified participatory budgeting as a Council priority under the Open Government theme, specifically action OG10 which states: Participatory Budgeting Enable community members to directly decide how to spend part of the city’s budget, allowing them to make budget decisions that affect their lives. The City already makes substantial investments in the community through capital infrastructure (e.g. community centres, parks, and playgrounds) as well as providing desired programs and services (e.g. indoor/outdoor recreational programs). Participatory budgeting will help leverage these existing investments and allow the community to have a more direct say in how City funds are spent. In order to pilot participatory budgeting in Kitchener, the City has partnered with the University of Waterloo (UW) as part of the Smart Region Initiative (SRI). This partnership provides benefits to both parties as UW will have an opportunity to devote effort towards the research, design, and implementation of participatory budgeting from an academic point of view, while the City will have an opportunity to have a practical application of UW’s efforts to help improve public engagement relating to City funds. th The Strategic Session planned for February 27 will include a brief presentation by the UW team and staff working directly on this project, as well as a facilitated discussion *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. with Council that will set the direction for the participatory budgeting pilot planned for later in 2017. REPORT: Participatory budgeting (PB) is a novel “democratic process that gives ordinary people direct control over a portion of a public budget.” The City’s partners from the University of Waterloo (UW) have completed a comprehensive literature review of PB which is attached to this covering report. The UW information is divided into the following sections:  The History and Development of Participatory Budgeting o An Introduction to Participatory Budgeting o Why Municipalities Implement Participatory Budgeting  Key Design Features o Targeting Participatory Budgeting o The Process of a Typical Participatory Budgeting Program o Measuring Success  Discussion  Reference List A brief synopsis of the UW report is that PB originated in Brazil around 1989 and has since spread to more than 1,700 local governments in more than 40 countries. In Ontario, there is no standard approach to PB as it has not been widely used. The remainder of the report outlines benefits of PB (e.g. increased community engagement, accountability, and trust) as well as common design features of a PB process (e.g. division into neighbourhoods or thematic areas, deliberation & negotiation). At the th February 27 Strategic Session, staff will be seeking direction from Council on the design of some components of the PB pilot project. As part of this pilot project, Council will earmark a set amount of funding which will then be allocated based on the results of the PB process. Qualifying activities would be limited to one-time events or projects, as the City is not intending to create any ongoing program expenses out of the PB process. The intention of this pilot project is to test different PB methods to determine the strengths and challenges associated with each method and better understand what works best in Kitchener. The UW team have been valuable contributors in the research phase of the PB project and will be co-leaders with City staff in the design and execution of the PB pilot. This co-led approach will allow the City to leverage the knowledge base of the UW team as the pilot moves forward into the practical application phase of the PB project, and will also allow for skill building and knowledge transfer from the UW team to City staff. In order to better understand Council’s direction for the PB pilot, the following questions are posed for discussion and direction. Questions for Council’s Direction 1. In your opinion, what are the most important outcomes of the PB pilot? a. increased community engagement and public participation b. education of the public about government processes c. improved accountability and trust d. increased effectiveness of budget allocations e. promotion of cooperation and social justice f. other The design of the pilot will be shaped by what the desired outcomes are. For instance, the activities involved in increasing community engagement and public participation would look different than the activities involved in promoting education of the public about government processes. 2. What population segment should be targeted in the PB pilot? The project team has identified two groups as the best candidates, youth and neighborhoods. If neighbourhoods are chosen by Council as an area of interest, Council will also need to put its mind to what portions of neighbourhoods would be part of the pilot, as including all neighbourhoods would be too broad a population to effectively engage. Some potential criteria for choosing neighbourhoods include:  Geography (e.g. planning boundaries, neighbourhood association boundaries)  Economic profile  Neighbourhood need for investment  Establishment of neighbourhood associations (NAs) o E.g. may want to focus on areas with less established NAs  Consideration of other projects being undertaken o E.g. Doon Pioneer Park Community Centre expansion 3. How many pilots will be undertaken? Ideally there would be more than one PB pilot, as this will allow for different designs/methods to be tested and compared for their effectiveness in Kitchener. The project team has contemplated up to four pilot processes, as this would allow two pilot processes to be run in both the youth and neighbourhood segments. 4. What do reasonable timelines for delivery look like? The project team believes pilots could be run as early as the summer of 2017, but could take longer depending on the desired outcomes and specific design elements Council wants incorporated in the pilot. ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN: Strategic Priority: Open Government Strategy: 1.3 – Create more opportunities for citizen dialogue on community issues and introduce new ways for people to get involved in decisions that affect them. Strategic Action: # OG10 Participatory Budgeting FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The financial commitment to participatory budgeting is one of the questions Council will answer as part of the Strategic Session. The budget for each pilot needs to be large enough that it is meaningful for the population being asked to participate. Based on previous experience with the Festival of Neighbourhoods, staff recommend an amount of $20,000 per pilot process as the appropriate amount to encourage sufficient engagement by the community. This funding would be used primarily for community- driven events and projects selected through the PB process and also for the expenses associated with process (e.g. advertising, printing, etc.). The funds for the pilot will be allocated from existing capital balances in Community Services and/or the Capital Contingency account, with the specific division being finalized once Council direction on the number and nature of the pilots is known. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: COLLABORATE – The recommended approach for the participatory budgeting pilot includes collaboration with the designated communities in developing ideas for how identified funds could be spent. ENTRUST – The recommended approach for the participatory budgeting pilot is for Council to identify a set amount of funding and entrust the designated communities to decide how it is spent. PREVIOUS CONSIDERATION OF THIS MATTER: The 2017-2019 Business Plan – Strategic Actions (report CAO-16-031) identified participatory budgeting as an approved priority for 2017. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Dan Chapman, Deputy CAO, Finance and Corporate Services