Boston participatory budgeting pilot funds six projects with $2 million; advocates and some councilors press to grow fund

Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means Chair Brian Worrell on May 27 heard a report from Renato Costello, director of the Office of Participatory Budgeting, on the office’s pilot year and the administration’s FY26 recommendation: a $2,134,250 operating budget and a $2,000,000 minimum allocation for participatory-budgeting projects, funded through a special revenue fund established by the PB ordinance.

The participatory budgeting, or PB, pilot ran from idea-collection in July 2024 through voting in January–February 2025. Costello told the council residents submitted roughly 1,200 ideas; staff and volunteers organized visioning forums that produced 15 proposals; the final ballot contained 14 projects and generated 4,460 votes. Six resident-chosen projects received awards totalling $2,000,000.

The pilot’s outcomes matter because the PB process was created to expand civic engagement and give residents direct control over a portion of public funds. Costello told the committee city staff and the office used prior appropriations and accumulated balances in a special revenue fund to sustain a $2,000,000 baseline for future cycles so the program can be predictable and not promise amounts it cannot guarantee.

Costello said the office rolled prior-year operating balances into a special revenue fund: about $1,999,000 moved into FY24, combined with an…