This is a CTP of initiative: Participatory Budgeting Porto Alegre (Brazil)
This CTP is about a process change in the cycle of the PB in Porto Alegre. This happened at the end of 2012. It is considered a CTP because it promoted a better structured cycle with the preparation and vote on the municipal budget laws.
The interviewee highlighted three positive outcomes that the cycle change provided. The first concerns the inclusion of the demands of the PB’s Investment and Services Plan (PI) in the municipal budget. The second is the quality of the preparation process, as there will be more time for preparatory meetings prior to the round of Regional and Thematic Assemblies. The third point highlighted concerns that were central to the main object of change, ie the temporal compatibility between the IP and the municipal budget, as stated:
“Before this change, the communities used to make demands without knowing exactly how much money they would have to spend on those demands, but now they consider the available budget before deciding the demands. That means that the demands are more viable to being met. There was also the recovery of demands that were not carried out in the former year. For example, before this cycle change, if the demand was not met in the year it was established, you would have to demand it again the following year (and most of the time the people did not demand it again because the cycle used to start before they could know it would not be met). Right now, if the demand is not carried out in one year, it automatically goes to the next year’s Investment and Services Plan and the annual budget law forecasts it. That brought security to the communities as now they know that if they demand something and it is approved by the Investment and Services Plan, it is going to happen”.
Participants wanted to know how much money they had for the demands: “This was an initiative that came from the communities themselves. They realized the need to know exactly the amount of money they would have to spend in that year’s demands. So they asked the government to change the cycle, aligning the PB process with the municipal law budget process”.
The draft PB cycle change was discussed between the PB’s Coordination (COP – which is composed by representatives of the communities elected in the regional assemblies) and municipal bodies responsible for PB. After a round of meetings, the proposal was brought to the COP in the communities, where the councilors of each region were committed to discussing them in the Forums of Delegates. Considering that, the process began with the COP’s board of directors, who talked to the government representative (PB’s Committee) and then took it to the Forum of Delegates in each region. The Forum of Delegates is a council constituted by representatives of regional associations and represents the communities in regional discussions with the COP. They do not have a close relationship with the government, but rather they connect the COP with the community associations. After the Forum of Delegates and the COP of each region had been discussed, the COP brought some considerations to the PB’s Committee (government) and after some time, they proposed this change to be voted on by the city council (aldermen).
The interviewee finds it difficult to identify specific events, since it was something that had been discussed for a long time. He recalls that the communities were asking for changes for quite some time, but the government could not find a way to implement them. So they talked a lot before anything could be done.
2012 - Largest number of participants in PB meetings - The system was working for the participants who were present in large numbers at the meetings and assemblies
2012 – Municipal Election - In 2012, Porto Alegre reelected the mayor for another 4-year mandate, which started in 2013.
February 2013 – Start of the new cycle of PB in POA - The main difference between this year’s cycle and the old ones was due to the adequacy of the cycle with the preparation and voting of the municipal budget laws.
2014 and 2015 – Change in the themes and demands - The interviewee noticed that the characteristics and themes of the demands had changed after the PB cycle switched. He says that some secretariats that used to be outside of the themes that the communities considered being the main ones began to appear as a priority. He used the Culture Secretariat as an example. He pointed out that before this change the Culture Secretariat did not use the whole budget they had available to them because they did not get demands from the PB.
After this change it was clear to everyone the amount of money that each Secretariat would have available for investment, the communities then began to ask for Cultural projects as demands in the PB.
The interviewee does not recall any kind of contestation. The government and the communities and it representatives were involved in this CTP and they all were willing for this change. The government had already noticed that this change was needed, especially because lots of demands had been accumulating over time.
“The government was aware that the shortfall was getting higher each year. There was mutual interest. This change would benefit the communities, because they would receive the things they had demanded and it would also organize the management of the municipality. The secretariat would be more organized in order to deliver what they should do and the communities had an explicit request: they wanted to know how much money they would have to make their demands. So is fair to say that everybody wanted this to happen, even though there were lots of meeting to arrange it in the best way for both parts”.
As this was a procedural change in the whole PB cycle in Porto Alegre, the communities and the government were aware that this would provoke a big transformation in the way the budget was organized in the city.
“Everybody knew about the change it would provoke, that was evident if you considered that the communities had been asking for this change for quite some time”
The interviewee recognizes that this change rearranged the management of the city’s budget, so there was a learning gain in this matter. Considering the communities, there was also a reorganization of their assemblies and an awareness of the importance of demanding things while bearing in mind the amount of money available, so they became more careful with the demands. “I would not call it learning, I would call it a recognition process… We always say that the city hall must listen to the communities, especially those in need, to arrange a better solution for all”.
Stay informed. Subscribe for project updates by e-mail.
