Council President Brenda Jones and Councilmember Jenee Ayers
Detroiters are being asked to weigh in on how their tax dollars are spent by participating in a new online survey before the city's 2019 budget is proposed.
The Fiscal Budget Community Engagement survey asks residents to outline priorities for the city and its neighborhoods and rate the importance of various city functions.
The survey was created by the offices of Council President Brenda Jones and Councilmember Jenee Ayers. It must be completed by Feb. 22. Public meetings and hearings on the proposed budget will he held from March 11 to April 4.
The survey is designed to increase resident participation in the process. Budget hearings historically have not been well-attended, according to Councilmember Mary Sheffield.
Last year she wanted to establish participatory budgeting to increase community engagement, which would have given residents a small chunk of the budget to play with. She told Deadline Detroit on Monday that she encounterered pushback and has not yet had a chance to follow up.
► Take Ayers' and Jones' survey.
