CARROLL GARDENS — An overnight book drop-off at the Carroll Gardens library, musical equipment for local senior centers and a student program to improve diversity in schools are just a few of the projects you can vote to fund this year.
Neighborhoods in District 39, including Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and surrounding areas, are familiar with participatory budgeting, the program in which residents can vote for their favorite capital improvements that will be funded through the local Council member's discretionary dollars.
But the past projects, such as new bathrooms for P.S. 124, have always had two things in common — they're big and they're expensive, City Councilman Brad Lander said.
"A lot of the kinds of projects that can be funded with capital dollars are similar from year to year," he said.
In an effort to fund small-scale improvements, Lander has allocated $50,000 for cheaper and short-term improvements, known as "expense" projects after suggestions from local volunteers who form a district committee for participatory budgeting.
"Part of what's really exciting about participatory budgeting is the creativity that it generates," Lander said.
Each year, locals brainstorm possible projects for funding. These projects are then vetted and pared down to a final list based on feasibility.
"Every year, plenty of those ideas aren't [considered] capital," Lander said.
When voting kicks off, residents will have two ballots to fill out.
Locals will choose their favorites from a list of 13 capital projects, all of which cost more than $100,000, including a "teen space" for the Carroll Gardens Library and a "Lake Mess Monster" in Prospect Park. These will be funded through a $1.5 million allocation from Lander's capital budget.
In the second ballot, residents can vote for three out of six projects, priced at $25,000 or less.
Those cheaper projects include overnight book drops at public libraries in Carroll Gardens, Windsor Terrace and Borough Park for $24,000 and providing music equipment for three senior centers, including Eileen Dugan Senior Citizen Center for $5,000.
Another project will provide funding for student-led teams at four Brooklyn Schools, including Carroll Gardens's Brooklyn New School, to come up with ways to improve diversity at their schools.
District 39 is the first in the city to introduce "expense" projects in the participatory budgeting program.
If the new initiative is successful, neighborhood residents can expect to see it again in years to come.
"I'm optimistic that it will be very popular," Lander said.
