FREEHOLD – Following the debut of a program in 2017 that led to three local projects being funded, officials in Freehold Borough will again provide residents and business owners with the opportunity to select how a portion of the municipal budget will be appropriated.
A public meeting regarding the town’s participatory budgeting program will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 2 at Borough Hall, 51 W. Main St. Officials will explain and discuss the program, which now enters its second year, and residents and business owners will be able to submit ideas for potential capital projects. A translator for Spanish-speaking residents will be present. Residents age 14 and over are welcome to participate.
Participatory budgeting allows residents and business owners to propose and vote on projects that, if approved, will be funded by $200,000 that has been allocated in the 2018 municipal budget. Voters will be allowed to select which potential projects they would like to see funded.
Officials said because the projects will be funded by existing finances in the 2018 municipal budget, the program will not increase the budget or raise taxes.
Using $200,000 that was dedicated to the participatory budgeting program in 2017, three projects were funded through voter approval: a sidewalk repair program, five additional street lights in the downtown area, and a pedestrian bridge near the Lake Topanemus dam.
According to Councilman Ron Griffiths, who proposed the concept of participatory budgeting to the Borough Council, and Councilman Kevin Kane, Freehold Borough is the first municipality in New Jersey to implement the program and is the smallest municipality in the United States to have the program.
As a result of the borough’s small size, Griffiths said, officials are able to allocate more funds per capita to the program than any other municipality in the United States.
Borough officials have said they hope participatory budgeting will directly involve residents in the budgeting and borough-building process, foster civic engagement and community spirit, and help ensure the town’s capital plan reflects the priorities of residents and stakeholders.
After implementing the program in 2017, Freehold Borough received honorable mention recognition from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities for “Innovation in Governance,” according to Griffiths.