The 40th Ward People’s Budget

To be considered for the People’s Budget ballot, a project must meet the following criteria:

• Location: it must be located within the 40th Ward on city-owned property (e.g. streets, sidewalks, city parks, public schools, or public libraries)
• Infrastructure: it must count as permanent infrastructure, which means it has to be a physical installation that will stand the test of time (at least five years). Programs like rat abatement, tree trimming, or park programming do not count as permanent infrastructure, nor do staffing expenses.
• Project vs. repair: it must be a community project vs an individual repair of existing infrastructure
  • A repair is something that fixes existing infrastructure (e.g. residential street resurfacing, alley resurfacing, individual sidewalk repairs or curb and gutter replacement) and typically only impacts a specific address or block. 
  • A project tends to involve the installation or replacement of new infrastructure (e.g. workout equipment at the park, pedestrian refuge island, sidewalk replacement, etc.) as opposed to a repair of existing infrastructure. It also usually impacts a larger portion of the community (e.g. replacement of several blocks of sidewalk on a major street, as opposed to fixing the sidewalk in front of one property).
  • Menu Repairs are projects that repair existing infrastructure (e.g. residential street resurfacing, alley resurfacing, individual sidewalk repairs or curb and gutter replacement, alley reconstruction). 
• Cost: It must be something we’re able to afford to implement within our Menu budget of $1.5M

You can submit a project proposal. Proposals are open from January through August each year, so if the form is closed, hang tight until next year’s form opens!

You can submit a repair request anytime! We accept potential menu repair projects on a rolling basis to supplement our own ward surveys, and we choose which repair projects to fund at the beginning of each year. If there is a repair in your neighborhood that you’d like us to consider, let us know! See more about the Menu repair program here.

The final ballot is chosen by the People’s Budget Committee, made up of 40th Ward neighbors like you! Here’s what that process looks like:

• The 40th Ward staff first assesses each proposal to make sure it’s viable (e.g. it’s in the ward, on public property, and counts as permanent infrastructure). 
• Then, our People’s Budget Committee reviews each proposal and ranks it based on ward criteria to choose a list of semi-finalists. 
• Once semi-finalists are chosen, 40th Ward staff will reach out to relevant City departments to price out each project. 
• After we receive those estimates back, the People’s Budget Committee selects the final ballot, which usually consists of five project proposals.

We’d love to have you! Submit a volunteer application and indicate your interest in the People’s Budget Committee!

Great question! Check out this article for a full guide on what we look for in a successful project proposal. In addition to the basic eligibility criteria listed above, here are some of the qualities we look for: 

• Equity: We want to make sure the projects we consider serve all of our  neighbors, which means we ensure that we are covering all areas of the ward, and considering projects that may serve communities or areas of the ward that might not have seen as much investment in the past.
• Sustainability: Projects that benefit our natural environment, whether directly or indirectly, are a priority for our office.
• Accessibility: We believe that designing a project that accommodates a wide range of physical abilities makes it better for everyone.
• Pedestrian and Bike Safety: Public safety is the highest priority of our office, and infrastructure is a great way of making our community safer.
• Creativity: We like to see a project that demonstrates creative thinking, whether that’s a unique idea, or a project that supports our office’s vision of bringing public art to more of the ward.

We use ranked-choice voting, in which neighbors rank each project from most to least favorable, to determine the winning project. The project(s) that receive the most support will be funded within the following year.

The amount of projects we’re able to fund depends on the percentage that voters choose to spend on repairs vs. special projects. Depending on the amount that we have left to spend on special projects, we can sometimes fund more than one project. 

Any 40th Ward resident ages 14 and up is eligible to vote! 

Voting typically opens the first week of November! We will post a link to the ballot at the top of this page once voting begins; in-person ballot boxes are also available at locations throughout the 40th Ward.

Some projects take longer than others! If you’re curious about the status of a specific project, take a look at the archived Past People’s Budget Projects section.

• Once a winning project is chosen, the funds for that project are appropriated to the relevant city agency. Then that agency enters the design and build process, which can take anywhere from months to several years, depending on the project. Here are some of the factors that can cause delays:
  • Complexity of the project: if a project involves several different agencies, or if it’s a project that involves a lot of logistics, e.g. traffic signals, it may take longer to be completed.
  • Material shortages: Sometimes, material shortages may delay a project, e.g. if there is a concrete shortage.
  • Conflicting work: there may be conflicting utility work on a street, which may mean that we have to wait until that work is completed for the project to be installed. 

We allocate $1M of Menu funds at the beginning of each year through our People’s Budget process. We reserve the remaining $500K to pay for any emergency repairs or urgent projects that come up throughout the year.

Typically, the community votes to spend between 40-50% on special projects, which means that any given project would need to cost less than $500K. Costs vary per project, but you can get an idea of how much common infrastructure improvements cost using the table below.