THE PEOPLE'S MONEY 2025/26

The NYC Civic Engagement Commission (CEC) is excited to launch the fourth cycle of The People’s Money 2025/26 participatory budgeting process!​
On September 14 2022, the NYC Civic Engagement Commission (CEC) launched The People’s Money – NYC’s first-ever citywide participatory budgeting process! All New Yorkers age 11 and up, regardless of immigration status, can decide how to spend millions of the city’s expense budget on programs, services, and events in their borough and/or neighborhood to address community needs.

​PHASE 1: IDEA GENERATION

Through a robust and inclusive engagement process, over 200 groups, entities, and community based organizations submitted proposals to host Idea Generation Workshops across the five boroughs, where residents will be invited to brainstorm ideas for creative projects. Projects will then be developed into ballot proposals, which will be voted on by residents in each borough. Winning projects will then be implemented starting in July of 2026.
From October 15th to November 19th, residents can submit ideas for projects to address community needs. Ideas can be submitted online or in-person at an Idea Generation Workshop near you. Projects will then be developed into ballot proposals, which will be voted on by residents in each borough. Winning projects will then be implemented starting in July of 2026. ​

What is Participatory Budgeting?

​Participatory budgeting (PB) is a democratic process in which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget. PB originated in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989 as an anti-poverty intervention. Since then, it’s been implemented in over 10,000 municipalities across the world to help residents directly decide budgets for states, counties, cities, housing authorities, schools, and other institutions.

​The History of PB in NYC and the CEC

PB was brought to NYC in 2010 by four City Council Members –Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Jumaane Williams, and Eric Ulrich. Since then, many more Council Members invite their residents to decide how to spend public funds in a process called PBNYC. However, not all council members choose to offer PB in their district. In November 2018, close to one million New Yorkers voted in a citywide referendum proposed by the 2018 Charter Revision Commission for a ballot initiative creating the CEC and mandating it to implement a citywide participatory budgeting program. This mandate can be found in
Chapter 76 of the NYC Charter.

THE PEOPLE'S MONEY: CYCLE 4 — PHASE BREAKDOWN

Phase 1: Idea Generation | October 15 - November 19, 2025
  • The CEC and their community-based partners invited New Yorkers to over 500 in-person and virtual workshops to learn about the city budget, identify community needs, and brainstorm ideas for expense projects. Residents were also able to propose ideas directly on our online platform. Over 3,900 ideas were submitted!​
Phase 2: Borough Assemblies | January - February 2026
  • The CEC creates Borough Assemblies of randomly selected New Yorkers to evaluate the submitted ideas against equity, criteria, and relevant data. The ideas listed on the ballots will be selected by these Assemblies.
  • Apply today and be a part of your Borough Assembly!
    Work with fellow residents to evaluate ideas and select projects that bring real change for your borough’s ballot through participatory budgeting.
    Learn more and apply: on.nyc.gov/assemblies
Phase 3: Voting | April - May 2026
  • Residents will be able to vote online or in-person at a vote site in their neighborhood.
Phase 4: Project Implementation | July 2026 until 2027
  • Winning projects are announced, funded, implemented and monitored in each borough.

Stay Connected with The People’s Money
  • Visit participate.nyc.gov to learn more about The People’s Money
  • Sign up for the NYC CEC newsletter at nyc.gov/cec
  • Follow @nyccec on X, Facebook, and Instagram