Freehold Participatory Budgeting Project Applications Now Open

Freehold NJ

19 July, 2021

6:49 PM

Description

FREEHOLD BOROUGH, NJ - Do you have a great idea to make Freehold Borough a better place? The Freehold Participatory Budgeting Committee is all ears. The annual borough-wide initiative - now in its fifth year - encourages residents as young as 14 to submit community-centered project proposals, with accepted projects to be included in the funding for the municipality's annual budget. Proposals are due Aug. 1. The submissions, which must all consist of a community-oriented end goal and serve the public for at least five years. The proposals will all be reviewed by the participatory budgeting committee later this year, which will then select 10 projects that will be voted on by citizens for the top three. The final choices are then chosen by the borough council. All proposals must have low or relatively low associated maintenance costs and must be on public property such as parks, streets, borough buildings or sidewalks (not school property). You can view a copy of the application here. Freehold Borough was the first municipality in the Garden State to utilize participatory budgeting, which is now practiced in West Orange and Neptune City. Last year's election resulted in the planned replacement of over 200 dead trees in the borough, as well as additional park benches and ADA-compliant playground equipment.