Vote online to determine how Raleigh spends $1 million in your neighborhood

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- City of Raleigh is setting aside $1 million and letting voters decide how it is spent.

"The city of Raleigh hasn't had an opportunity to really give residents power over how to spend money," Raleigh's budget director Sadia Sattar said to our newsgathering partners at the News & Observer.

This is what's called a participatory budget. It's a portion of the $1.26 billion city budget for fiscal 2023-24.

"We are sort of dipping our toe into the participatory-budget waters," Sattar said. "So we are giving folks an opportunity to directly impact how money is going to be spent in their communities," Sattar said.

Raleigh City Council held listening sessions leading up to the passing of the most recent budget. Those sessions helped city leaders develop a list of possible projects -- including new dog parks, community gardens, fixing sidewalks, etc -- that are now up for a vote.

Raleigh is divided into five districts. Each district will get $200,000 for the projects that receive the top votes.

You can look up your district and vote at this link.