Participatory Budgeting (GE0084)

Commitment 4: Improving citizen engagement in budgetary processes in Batumi City through introduction of an institutional mechanism of participatory budgeting

The transparent and purposeful planning of the local budget with wide citizen engagement is the priority task of Batumi Municipality City Hall.

For improving citizen engagement in the budgetary processes, Batumi Municipality City hall shall develop and introduce an institutional mechanism of participatory budgeting.

Commitment 4: Improving citizen engagement in budgetary processes in Batumi City through introduction of an institutional mechanism of participatory budgeting
Lead Agency Batumi Municipality City Hall
Other Involved Actors Public Agency
Civil Society/ Private Sector /International organization USAID-funded Good Governance Initiative in Georgia (GGI); Forum-member NGOs.
Issues to be Addressed A significant part of a new wave of the local self-government reform represents the introduction of new mechanisms of citizen engagement in the decision-making process at a local level and the creation of real facilities.
The lack of institutional mechanisms necessary for participatory budgeting is a serious challenge for Batumi Municipality City Hall. A problematic issue is also the low motivation of citizen engagement in the budgetary processes, which seriously affects the engagement intensity and quality.
Main Objective Improvement of citizen engagement in the budgetary processes
OGP Challenge Better management of public resources
OGP Principles Transparency Accountability Civil Participation Technology and Innovation
  
Milestones to Fulfill the Commitment New or ongoing commitment Start date End date
Establishment of district contacts in the Batumi City Municipality Budget according to the city’s administration units New First quarter 2018 October 2018
Approval of the relevant legislative framework for introducing an institutional mechanism of participatory budgeting New Third quarter
2018 October 2018
Promotion of the system of participatory budgeting; raising citizen awareness. New Third quarter
2018 December 2018
Conduct of the participatory budgeting process New Third quarter
2018 December 2018
Allocation of respective amounts in the 2019 Batumi City Municipality Budget for implementing a project/projects identified during the participatory budgeting New Fourth quarter
2018 December 2018
Promotion of the participatory budgeting results New Fourth quarter
2018 March 2019

Indicator  District contacts have been established according to the city’s administration units;
 The relevant legislative framework for participatory budgeting has been approved;
 The system of participatory budgeting has been introduced;
 Amounts for implementing a project/projects identified during the participatory budgeting have been allocated in the 2019 Budget.
Risks and Assumptions The issue is complex and its successful implementation depends on the engagement of the respective donor and civil society.

Commitment 19: Improving Citizen Engagement in Budgetary Processes in Batumi City through Introduction of an Institutional Mechanism of Participatory Budgeting

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“The transparent and purposeful planning of the local budget with wide citizen engagement is the priority task of Batumi Municipality City Hall.

For improving citizen engagement in the budgetary processes, Batumi Municipality City hall shall develop and introduce an institutional mechanism of participatory budgeting.

A significant part of a new wave of the local self-government reform represents the introduction of new mechanisms of citizen engagement in the decision-making process at a local level and the creation of real facilities.

The lack of institutional mechanisms necessary for participatory budgeting is a serious challenge for Batumi Municipality City Hall. A problematic issue is also the low motivation of citizen engagement in the budgetary processes, which seriously affects the engagement intensity and quality."

Milestones: 

1. Establishment of district contacts in the Batumi City Municipality Budget according to the city’s administration units
2. Approval of the relevant legislative framework for introducing an institutional mechanism of participatory budgeting
3. Promotion of the system of participatory budgeting; raising citizen awareness.
4. Conduct of the participatory budgeting process 
5. Allocation of respective amounts in the 2019 Batumi City Municipality Budget for implementing a project/projects identified during the participatory budgeting
6. Promotion of the participatory budgeting results

Start Date: January 2018

End Date: March 2019

Editorial note: For the full text of this commitment, please see https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/georgia-action-plan-2018-2019/.

Context and Objectives

Under Commitment 24 from Georgia’s third action plan (2016–2018), the municipalities of Akhaltsikhe , Batumi, Kutaisi, and Ozurgeti aimed to introduce an electronic mechanism for local budget planning. [104] Specifically, the four municipalities committed to establish electronic “Plan City Budgets” to help identify local budget priorities and plan accordingly. [105] In 2019, Batumi Municipality Town Hall created the web platform idea.batumi.ge, which enables citizens to register their ideas and vote for their preferred projects. The United States Agency for International Development’s Good Governance Initiative (USAID GGI) has been actively supporting these municipalities in successfully implementing the commitment through a joint grant with the Estonian Foreign Ministry. The grant was issued for the e-Governance Academy of Estonia and its local partner, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information. [106]

With this current commitment, Batumi Municipality Town Hall, with the support of USAID GGI, aims to enhance civic participation in budgetary planning processes through institutionalizing the participatory planning mechanisms. To promote idea.batumi.ge and support participative mechanisms, the municipality will create district unions in each of its administrative units. District unions will organize residents in each district and represent a structural unit for their participation. Secondly, the municipality will institutionalize participation mechanisms through relevant legislation and define Town Hall’s obligations for ensuring citizen participation. Lastly, with USAID GGI's support, the municipality will conduct an awareness-raising campaign to promote the opportunities for participatory budgeting and disseminate the results. The goal of this commitment is to raise public awareness about participatory budgeting opportunities and institutionalize participatory mechanisms. Thus, it is relevant to the OGP values of access to information and civic participation.

The commitment’s activities are specific enough to be verified. However, it is unclear from the commitment and milestones how the participatory budgeting will take place and in what form citizens will be able to participate. If fully implemented, this commitment could provide a new mechanism through which Batumi residents can allocate the municipal budget according to their preferences. The creation of district unions could also contribute to higher levels of citizen engagement in self-governance processes. The district unions will serve as liaisons between the public and the municipality, and those unions will support popularization of participatory budget mechanisms. [107] However, it should be noted that opposition political parties see the creation of district unions as a potential tool for the governing party to utilize unions for its political goals, such as employing party activists and promoting the party’s interests. [108]

If fully implemented, this commitment cumulatively, with the launch of the idea.batumi.ge platform, could help institutionalize public participation in the budget processes in Batumi Municipality. However, as the commitment is limited in budget and scale—allowing only 120.000 GEL total allocation for up to three citizen-proposed projects—this commitment could have a minor potential impact.

Next steps

The IRM researcher recommends that Batumi Municipality clarify the process for conducting the participatory budgeting exercise. Specifics should include how the municipality intends to organize the public consultations, collect feedback, and translate that information into concrete budget proposals. The IRM researcher also recommends ensuring the elaboration of a mechanism that allows locals to be involved throughout the whole cycle of the budget planning, to define the priority setting and budgeting decisions. Furthermore, the IRM researcher recommends requiring the municipal government to analyze the results of priorities identified by the citizens and publish publicly the comparison between the citizen-prioritized budget and the final approved budget. If differences between the priorities identified by citizens and the thematic priorities in the actual budget are identified, the regulation should clearly define the steps to be taken by the municipality to ensure the voices of citizens are heard and considered.

To further increase citizen engagement in the budgetary planning processes, the IRM researcher recommends increasing the amount of allocated budget as well as the number of projects. Also, the IRM researcher recommends the government continue conducting an awareness-raising campaign through media, public discussions, and social networks to maximize public engagement. The IRM researcher also recommends that the electronic participatory platform not only provide space for citizen-prompted discussions, crowdsourcing ideas, and comments but also ensure there is a mechanism for local government response to the issues raised during the discussion.

On the national level, the IRM researcher recommends applying a more unified approach in implementing participatory budgeting mechanisms in all municipalities in Georgia. Development of a unified participatory budgeting approach for all municipalities could contribute to sustainable participatory budgeting practices. This recommendation emphasizes the importance of the previous IRM recommendation on the development of a unified approach across the country. 

[104] Open Government Partnership, “Georgia National Action Plan 2016–2018,” https://bit.ly/2YRRUN7.

[105] Open Government Partnership, IRM: Georgia End-of-Term Report2016–2018, https://bit.ly/2XN8Oix.

[106] Open Government Partnership, IRM: Georgia Progress Report 2016–2018, https://bit.ly/2XKZWpP.

[107] Akaki Gvianidze, Head of Department of Municipal Services at Agency of Municipal Services, Batumi City Hall, interview with IRM researcher, 11 June 2019.

[108] Grass Fact-Check, “District Unions—New Partners of the Local Governance?” 17 July 2019, https://bit.ly/2Lpas4j.

19. Introduce institutionalized participatory budgeting in Batumi City

Complete

Commitment 19 - Institutionalize participatory budgeting in Batumi City

Aim of the commitment

Under this commitment, Batumi Municipality aimed to institutionalize participatory mechanisms in its budget process. Specifically, Batumi planned to create district unions in all 14 city districts to better organize its awareness-raising activities, provide trainings, and promote participation and its idea.batumi.ge web portal. Also, Batumi planned to develop a legislative framework to define rules and procedures for participation, selection of ideas, voting, and obligations of the municipal government.

Did it open government?

Major

This commitment was fully completed by the end of the action plan. To institutionalize the legislative framework for participatory budgeting in the 2019 fiscal year, Batumi Municipality, with the support of USAID GGI, elaborated the rules and procedures, allocated 120,000 GEL for citizen initiatives, and issued the Mayor’s decree of February 2019 with a step-by-step description of the participatory budgeting process. [19] Next, the municipality created district unions in all 14 districts of the city and trained union members to better promote participatory mechanisms within the districts. Finally, USAID GGI contracted the Civil Society Institute (CSI) to help conduct 12 awareness-raising meetings, distribute awareness-raising materials (flyers, posters, and branded pens), develop social media pages on Facebook [20] and Instagram [21], and organize TV and radio broadcasts to promote citizen participation mechanisms, including idea.batumi.ge. [22]

As a result of this commitment, 35 ideas from citizens were generated through idea.batumi.ge during the 2019 fiscal year. Following the new procedures, the City Advisory Council selected 10 initiatives of the 35 according to the predetermined criteria and used the idea.batumi.ge platform for public voting. At the final stage, more than 2,000 citizens participated in the voting process and selected three winners of the 10 initiatives. The selected initiatives included 1) organizing a Kite Festival in 28-29 July 2019; 2) installing a Wish Tree in the tourist area; and 3) installing a “Batumi” welcome sign on Batumi Hill. All three initiatives aimed at fostering the potential of Batumi as an attractive destination for tourists and visitors. [23]         

Following these promising results in 2019 and growing interest among citizens, Batumi Municipality scaled up the participatory budgeting in 2020. This involved increasing the allocated budget for citizen initiatives from 120, 000 GEL in 2019 to 500,000 GEL in 2020, as well as increasing the number of citizen proposals to be selected for funding. Also, with the support of USAID GGI, Batumi Municipality revised the rules and procedures. [24] In 2020, 53 proposals were submitted through idea.batumi.ge and eight projects were selected by citizens for implementation in the 2021 fiscal year (up from three the previous year). [25] Some of the selected initiatives were: 1) organic waste composting that envisages installing 100 dumpsters around the city to collect wasted fruits and vegetables and process into fertilizers for use by local farmers; 2) Batumi Velo-City that implies installing bicycle stops and maintenance toolboxes around the city; and 3) Colorful Yards for Children aimed at painting the yards of existing apartment buildings with colorful and entertaining pictures to attract children to play outdoors.

By introducing and institutionalizing participatory budgeting through the idea.batumi.ge portal, Batumi has offered opportunities for citizens to engage and influence the city budget that were not available before the action plan. Following the successful implementation of citizen initiatives in 2020, Batumi increased the allocated budget by four times and almost tripled the number of initiatives to be implemented in 2021 (from three to eight). This scaling-up of funded proposals, as well as the development of comprehensive rules and procedures for participatory budgeting, demonstrates that the commitment exceeded its ambition as presented in the action plan. Despite these favorable early results and enhanced public participation in the budgetary processes in 2020, Batumi still considers low awareness a key challenge, and acknowledges the high importance of promoting participatory budgeting mechanisms and their potential benefits to the wider public. [26]