Vallone to Continue Participatory Budgeting Process in Northeast Queens

Councilman Paul Vallone, D-Bayside, said he would continue to hold the participatory budgeting process in his district in which former Councilman Dan Halloran previously took part.

Participatory budgeting allows residents to decide on how to spend $1 million allocated to the community from the city's budget.

“In the interest of ensuring an effective and well planned participatory budgeting process that engages a wide range of residents of this district, my office will work with members of the Participatory Budgeting NYC Steering Committee in the coming months to make sure we can hit the ground running in August 2014,” Vallone said.

Community members volunteer as budget delegates and work in committees to turn projects into proposals that are vetted by city agencies and then voted on during an election.

Some of the district’s winners last year included the restoration of P.S. 98’s art room, police cameras, a structural restoration of the Poppenhusen Institute and SMART boards at a number of local schools. 

This year’s participatory budgeting will run from August through April 2015.