At yesterday’s City Council work session, the Budget Department shared the outcome of their recent engagement effort and the 2025 Fiscal Year outlook.
Thousands used their voice for budget priorities
Last fall, City of Raleigh continued taking steps toward participatory budgeting, increasing engagement efforts. The City asked the community how to spend $1,000,000, or $200,000 in each district. Almost 3,000 people voted on 19 projects.
This was the first-of-its-kind participatory budgeting pilot for the City. It kicked off with 14 in-person and virtual listening sessions, including a “Budget & Brews” event. Residents shared priorities in the listening sessions. Topics ranged from affordable housing to the new alternative response program, and accessible and efficient infrastructure. From there, the community voted on which of 19 projects they'd like to see in their district.
A new level of engagement
The City got the word out on engagement efforts in a variety of ways - social media, radio, emails to relevant topics in My Raleigh Subscriptions, digital ads, the downtown IKEs (Interactive Kiosk Experience), GoRaleigh bus ads, and more. The communications plan also targeted zip codes outside of the downtown core, Spanish speakers, and households with incomes less than $80,000. The City will share a full engagement report within the next week.
Unanimous support for sidewalks
Across all districts, the top priority was micro gaps for sidewalks to and from parks and greenways. As we move further into the budget process, the City will map out how many square feet of sidewalks can be added or repaired with these funds.
| District | Priority One (Votes) | Priority Two (Votes) | Priority Three (Votes) |
| District A | Micro gaps for sidewalks to and from parks and greenways | Grants for Community Organizations and Non Profits | |
| District B | Micro gaps for sidewalks to and from parks and greenways | Computers for Distribution | Neighborhood Education Programming Poverty Simulation |
| District C | Micro gaps for sidewalks to and from parks and greenways | Computers for Distribution | Neighborhood Education Programming Poverty Simulation |
| District D | Micro gaps for sidewalks to and from parks and greenways | Grant for Community Organizations and Non-Profits | |
| District E | Micro gaps for sidewalks to and from parks and greenways | Grant for Community Organizations and Non-Profits |
FY25 Budget outlook
It’s still early in the budgeting process, but the Budget Department shared the FY25 revenue outlook and priorities for City expenses.
One big factor is the new property valuations recently issued by Wake County. While we don't know the full impact of this, the City presented an example to illustrate what municipal taxes cover for the average resident.
- Median assessed home value: $391,705
- Property tax bill (City only): $1,244 covers:
- $430 for public safety
- $252 for capital and debt
- $233 for public infrastructure
- $175 for general administration
- $127 for leisure services
- $24 for grants
Next steps
The Budget Department will be back before Council for work sessions March 11 and April 8. The City Manager will present the proposed budget on May 21.