What is a People's Budget?
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Thank you so much for standing with us this year.
Did you know Raleigh’s city budget for 2022-2023 is 1.1 BILLION DOLLARS? All of that money comes from OUR TAXES, but city government spends it without even pretending like they care about our input.
We are determined to fight for a city budget made by the people and for the people. That’s why we are launching the Raleigh People’s Budget Coalition: a budget platform that speaks to the needs of everyday people in Raleigh. We are canvassing and surveying Black and brown neighborhoods, community and shopping centers, as well as conducting online surveys to receive input on what families need to thrive in Raleigh. We will also ask community members to explain and rate their budget priorities: affordable housing, access to quality food, education and youth development, elder care, crisis response and support, transportation, water and air quality, transportation, living wages and labor conditions, and culture and art.
The budget process MUST NOT be decided behind closed doors by city managers, corporations, and politicians. Instead, we, the people of Raleigh, MUST decide what to do with our dollars.
We need YOU to give your input. Where do you want your tax dollars to go in the city budget?
Answer our 3-question survey (linked here) to tell us what you would do with all that money! With your input, we are launching the Raleigh People’s Budget Coalition: a budget platform that demands our money goes to the needs of everyday people of Raleigh!
If you’d like to volunteer with us to canvass and spread the word about the People’s Budget, let us know on the survey, and we will reach out to you about ways to get involved with us!
For more information, check out the flier below!
READ OUR INFO SHEET BELOW
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DIVEST FROM POLICE VIOLENCE AND
INVEST IN CITY WORKERS & COMMUNITY SAFETY
2022 DEMANDS
Year after year, The City of Raleigh gives the Raleigh Police Department a blank check to continue its long history of racist policing and brutalizing Raleigh's Black, brown, and working-class communities. In 2021, the City of Raleigh bankrolled Raleigh PD with $116 million of our tax dollars – ten times more than they spend on housing while our city faces an extreme housing crisis. Most working-class people cannot afford to live in our city. In 2022 they are proposing to increase the police's starting salary by 12% starting salary, which means they want to continue investing in the failed policing practices of RPD.
WE DEMAND that the city listens to the people of Raleigh in 2022:
1) Invest in the city workers that make this city run – our Maintenance, Sanitation, Utilities, and Parks & Recreation technicians. Pay city workers a dignity wage of $22/hr in 2022!
2) Invest in Community Safety! We demand a Mental Health Crisis Response Unit without the police modeled after Denver’s extremely successful STAR unit.
3) Pay for these demands by cutting the police budget.