Boston residents can again share their thoughts on how the city spends part of its budget.

On July 1, the city opened submissions for its latest round of participatory budgeting, a process through which residents submit ideas for services, amenities or other projects to benefit Boston. Those ideas are voted on and the most popular are funded through a portion of the city’s annual spending.

“Participatory budgeting empowers community members to directly shape city investments, from strengthening youth programs and expanding access to community resources, to improving public spaces across Boston,” Mayor Michelle Wu said in a statement announcing this year’s round. “We encourage residents to share their ideas and help shape the investments that will be made in communities across every neighborhood.” In its most recent cycle, the city allocated $2.2 million to fund eight projects, including a legal defense fund for immigrants, an initiative to help local organizations increase communities’ access to fresh foods and a funding pool to support residents at risk of homelessness.

This cycle is the city’s third. The Office of Participatory Budgeting was formed in 2023 and the program launched in 2024 after Boston residents in 2021 voted in favor of the resident-guided process.

“Every idea submitted helps us better understand what residents are experiencing, what neighborhoods need, and where public investment can have the greatest impact,” said Renato Castelo, director of the Office of Participatory Budgeting. “As we continue this work, our goal is to make participation simple, accessible and meaningful for residents of all ages, backgrounds and neighborhoods.”

Expanding resident input in the city’s budget has also been a priority of the Better Budget Alliance, a coalition of local organizations advocating for increased community voice in how the city spends its money.

In November 2025 and March 2026, the coalition ran two “People’s Budget Assemblies” where residents had the opportunity to offer perspectives and feedback on their priorities for the city. Through a survey of nearly 700 residents — over half of whom

came from Dorchester, East Boston and Roxbury — the coalition identified food access, housing and immigration support as community priorities.

Khalil Howe, an organizer with the Youth Power and Justice Union, a member of the Better Budget Alliance, said the process is becoming more comfortable and familiar.

“It’s becoming more of a regular thing and less of a hassle around figuring out, ‘How does this work? How many rounds is it?’” he said. “It’s getting easier to pitch and get people involved.”

The first phase of the participatory budgeting process, where residents can submit ideas to the city, runs through the end of July. For the remainder of 2026, those ideas will be refined into bspecific, eligible proposals. In early 2027, residents will be able to vote from a slate of proposals to select the final set of projects that will be funded with this year’s $2 million.

There are certain limits to what can be funded through the process. Project ideas must be a one-time expense; for example, a proposal can’t create a new salaried position. They must also be within the city’s purview, not the state or federal governments.

The Better Budget Alliance has also advocated for an expanded pool of funds for the participatory budgeting process. Since the process was launched, the group has called on the city to allocate 1% of the budget — about $49 million in the most recent budget — toward the resident-guided budgeting. Last year’s $2.2 million was the largest allocated so far. But the most recent city budget process — a contentious affair that tested the City Council’s ability and willingness to reject parts of Wu’s budget after the mayor made cuts to funding for housing assistance, immigrant services, the city’s Human Rights Commission and other areas while increasing funding for the Boston Police Department — has left Howe feeling skeptical about how much the city is listening to resident concerns outside of established processes like participatory budgeting.

“It allows for some great ideas to get funded, but also it shows and makes it undeniable that this is a very important process to the people,” he said. “It can really give us the leverage to get more funding for it, so that our ideas in the future can be bigger and brighter.” Residents can submit ideas to the city online at participate. boston.gov, by phone at 617-635-3059, in-person at City Hall or select Boston Centers for Youth and Families and city-sponsored idea collection.