--- description: We dutifully pay taxes, but we rarely get a say in how the money is spent. That's beginning to change, thanks to a concept called... title: People-Powered Budgets image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # People-Powered Budgets  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 30, 2016 12:05 PM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 30, 2016 12:05 PM CUT We dutifully pay taxes, but we rarely get a say in how the money is spent. That’s beginning to change, thanks to a concept called participatory budgeting, which lets residents vote on local funding proposals created by their neighbors. Since 2009, when Chicago alderman Joe Moore set aside $1.3 million for his constituents to direct, the idea has spread to pockets across the country. As a result, thousands of people in places like New York City; Vallejo, Calif.; and Cambridge, Mass., have had a hand in how their schools, neighborhoods and parks get much-needed dollars. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4389177/people-powered-budgets/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4389177/people-powered-budgets/"},"headline":"People-Powered Budgets","datePublished":"2016-06-30T12:05:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:58:13.975Z","description":"We dutifully pay taxes, but we rarely get a say in how the money is spent. That's beginning to change, thanks to a concept called...","url":"https://time.com/4389177/people-powered-budgets/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4389177/people-powered-budgets/","name":"People-Powered Budgets"}}]}] ```