Participatory Budgeting

For the first time in D6 history the community will decide how all our Capital Set-Aside Funds will be spent. 

We received 243 project submission and we are currently in Phase 3, Project Ideation and will begin to work with departments to fully develop the projects then in Phase 4 we move on to voting.  Click below to read more.

• Committee Scopes and Deliverables
• Timeline
• Click here to learn more about PBABQ

PBABQ By the Numbers

It all began in February 2024, when District 6 City Councilor Nichole Rogers officially dedicated $1.5 million of her
Council Set-Aside funds to initiate a participatory budgeting process in her City Council District. Coincidentally, it
was at this same time that two undergraduate/graduate courses at the University of New Mexico were releasing the
findings of their research surrounding PB models being implemented in other cities around the country. Not long
after this, Councilor Rogers’ Office and UNM established a partnership to launch a series of working groups to start
developing a plan for implementing a PB pilot in District 6

• From June 18 to October 14, the City Councilor Rogers’ Office partnered with Participatory Budgeting ABQ
  (“PBABQ”) to co-design a participatory budgeting (“PB”) pilot program for the City of Albuquerque. Over this 5 month
  period, community members living, working, and/or studying in City Council District 6 worked closely with City staff
  to co-design a process for community members to submit capital “project ideas” to be funded by Councilor Rogers’
  $1.5 million in Council Set-Aside funds earmarked for a PB pilot program.
• From October 20 to December 15, 243 project ideas were submitted by community members via small workshops,
  project idea submission form submissions, in-person project idea surveys, pop-up community event mapping
  exercises, large workshop mentimeter surveys, district-wide assemblies, and other public engagement activities.
• On January 9, 16 “project idea clusters” were generated during a 3-hour project refinement event (“sprint”) by a team
  of 30+ community members comprised of Budget Delegates, D6 Steering Committee Members, and PBABQ core
  team members.
• On January 10, Councilor Rogers’ Office was provided a PB Project Manager by the Administration to help facilitate
  the project development process by bridging the gap between community members and City staff among 8+ City
  Departments.
• From throughout January and February, Councilor Rogers’ Office and the Administration’s Project Manager will
  connect these City Departments’ key staffers to work closely with Budget Delegates and D6 Steering Committee
  Members in “Project Development Teams.” During this 2 month period, PDTs will transform the 16 project idea
  clusters into full “project proposals”. These project proposals will have pricetags, locations, and other preliminary
  planning documentation that will be presented by PDTs during the Project Expos that will take place at the beginning
  of March (imagine PDTs presenting their project proposals to the public in a “science fair” format community
  meeting).
• In March, Councilor Rogers’ Office, the Administration, and the PDTs will place X project proposals (still to be
  determined) on the “Ballot” to be voted upon by community members. Community members will have $1.5 million
  available to spend on the projects they would like to see funded.
• In April, PBABQ will tally votes and announce the winning projects for the pilot PB process. PBABQ will work with
  CABQ’s Capital Implementation Program (CIP) to incorporate the winning projects into the City’s 2025 General
  Obligation (G.O.) Bond Program ($175 million worth of capital projects across the city).
• $1.5 million worth of District 6-specific capital projects are planned to be fully constructed by May 2027 (2 years after the completion of the pilot PB process).

After all this great work, the question now is:

How many voters can PBABQ get out to vote for projects to be funded?

Please help PBABQ get the word out to vote throughout the month of March!

Please reach out to [email protected] for more information on getting involved, or to Learn more about how to get involved please contact:
Albuquerque City Councilor Nichole Rogers | [email protected]
Albuquerque City Council Staffer Jeff Hertz | [email protected]