Hartford's mayor and city council set aside $1.2 million for "participatory budgeting," which allows residents to vote on projects they want the city to fund.
The concept isn't new. It's been utilized in some of the the country's biggest cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago. Hartford is the first city in Connecticut to give it a try.
“In New York City, for example, they did some parks, senior centers, community projects, that for many years had not been done, through that process. Now they get to decide how that money’s been spent," said Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra.
In Hartford, the projects could include street improvements, park upgrades, and even for the destruction of blighted buildings.
Segarra, a Democrat from Hartford, said it was an easy decision to give the new spending proposal the green light "because the tax dollars come from our community and the people have an absolute right to decide how it’s going to be spent."
Some of the organizational support for the new program came from Hartford 2000, the umbrella group of the different neighborhood revitalization groups in the city.
"I think it’s a great way because it all comes from the citizens of Hartford and the city of Hartford doesn’t have anything to do with it," said Jackie McKinney, one of the co-chairs of the group. "The projects are developed by the citizens of Hartford and are voted on by the citizens."
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Hartford voters will have the final say in a February 2016 vote. The projects would begin during the 2017 budget year.
