Edmonton councillors offering $50K in grants through 'participatory budgeting'

A pair of municipal leaders in Edmonton are offering "micro grants" between $500 and $2,000, money that they could have been spent on running their wards.

Every city councillor in the Alberta capital is allotted roughly $177,000 a year in discretionary ward funds for things like executive assistants, office furniture and business lunches.

But Andrew Knack in Ward Nakoda Isga and Keren Tang in Ward Karhiio are each setting aside $25,000 for a different purpose – a participatory budgeting project.

"This is collective decision-making…The end results are far stronger and more thoughtful than a decision made by a single person,” Tang explained.

"They’ll show us that we don’t know everything, and that there are maybe some different ways we can help accomplish city-wide goals," Knack added.

Public budgeting is a practice that began in Brazil in the 1980s and is now done in cities from Halifax to New York City, a press release from Tang and Knack said.

Both councillors will host workshops this spring and summer to "brainstorm and develop" projects. Community members will then vote on the ideas, and some will then be funded with taxpayers dollars.

"This is a trial year, and I know it’s not a lot of money. But I also have seen communities do amazing things with limited resources," Tang said.

After paying his staff, Knack often returns to the city a surplus from his ward budget. In 2020 he had nearly $80,000 left over. Now he wants his constituents to help him spend some of that surplus.

The cash could pay for upgrades to a community garden, a much needed bench, or gas for volunteers to drive seniors around, for example.

"I mean it can be any range of things. The whole beauty of participatory budgeting is it’s meant to be unique and creative ideas that just help build up a better place," he said.

"We want it to be quick, we want it to be easy, and we want people to participate," Tang added.

The councillors will host an online info session April 19 for people who want to learn more and the first grants will likely be paid out in the fall.

More Information about how to get involved is available online.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson