Council members invite constituents to vote on budget items
Rooftop gardens, sidewalk repairs, tree plantings, smart boards for schools among choices
Five Brooklyn council members are giving their constituents a chance to have a say in how their tax dollars are spent – including deciding which projects will get city funding – as part of the city’s 2014 participatory budgeting process.
Council members Stephen Levin (D-Greenpoint-Williamsburg), Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park-Red Hook) Brad Lander (D-Park Slope-Windsor Terrace) David Greenfield (D-Borough Park-Midwood-Bensonhurst) and Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush-Flatlands) have all prepared ballots listing various projects for their constituents to vote on.
The lawmakers have set aside between $1 million and $2 million in discretionary funding and are asking residents who live in their districts to vote on how they want the money spent.
Ten out of the city’s 51 council districts are part of the 2014 participatory budgeting process.