Boston People's Budget

What is a people's budget?

A People’s Budget is the collective vision and demand for how we, the people of Boston, want to spend our tax money.

Normally, Boston’s budget is drafted entirely by the Mayor and then modified and approved by the City Council, with little input from residents. The People’s Budget will be a way to show our leaders how we actually want our money to be spent.

Boston’s People’s Budget is a community-led process in which residents put forward a proposal for the entire city budget that invests in the health, safety, wellness and economic stability of BIPOC, working class communities and divests from harm, policing and extraction.

The People’s Budget is our vision for a Boston where resources go to the people who need them most. It is a demand, not a request. A people’s budget is a tool for measuring the people’s stated needs against where those in power are putting our tax dollars.

THE people's budget survey

The People’s Budget survey was created by the Better Budget Alliance to gather resident needs and hopes for the City of Boston’s budget. In 2025, hundreds of Bostonians completed the survey, responding to questions about community needs and budget priorities. Survey results will be shared back, discussed and finalized into a People’s Budget proposal at our city-wide People’s Assemblies. The first assembly will be November 15th, 2025.

We will share the People’s Budget with Boston City Council and the mayor, and we’ll continue to organize to ensure that Boston’s budget involves resident decision-making and better meets our everyday needs.

our goals

BUILD STRONG COMMUNITY POWER across communities, issues, and movements.
BUILD A BUDGET THAT IS RESPONSIVE to ongoing and emerging community needs.
CREATE A TRANSPARENT, COMMUNITY-LED PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING PROCESS that advances racial and economic equity.

Boston People's Budget

What is a people's budget?

THE people's budget survey

our goals

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