FREEHOLD, NJ — The winning projects for Freehold Borough’s 2024 Participatory Budgeting contest were announced at a Borough Council meeting on Monday night.
Each year, Freehold Borough residents or business owners 14 years old or older are eligible to submit their own project idea that meets local needs in the Borough.
Once voting ends and the winning project is determined, that project then receives funding from the Borough.
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This year, Freehold Borough was able to fund three projects that gained the most votes thanks to a newly acquired grant from the Freehold Borough Parks Department.
The winning projects are as follows:
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“We’re very excited to end the season on this high note,” Kathy Eckhardt, the co-chair of the Freehold Borough Participatory Budgeting Committee, said. “We want to thank all of the community members, our Council Liaison Annette Jordan, and Borough employees.”
Though project voting took place in 2024, Eckhardt reminded residents that the winning projects won’t be funded until the budget comes out in 2025.
“Please don’t look for these projects to be done in a week or so,” Eckhardt said. “It’s just not gonna happen. We appreciate your patience in getting these fabulous things done.”
According to the Participatory Budgeting Committee, the goal of participatory budgeting is to directly involve citizens in the budgeting and city-building process, foster civic engagement and community spirit, and help ensure that the Borough’s budget reflects the priorities of Freehold residents and local partners.
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Voting for this year’s projects took place between Sept. 19 and Sept. 30.
“The intense work that goes into this — the marketing, the education — it’s year-round,” Councilwoman Annette Jordan said. “We take one month of the year off and then we start right back up again. We analyze the last election — what did we do right? What did we do wrong? How can we improve?”
Though planning for next year’s participatory budgeting will soon start up again, the Committee is happy with the results of this year’s contest and voting process.
“It’s been a great year, we had some great projects, and it was a close race for the winners,” Eckhardt told Patch. “We’re very excited that we’re going to be able to fund three [projects] thanks to the help of the Borough and putting some grant funding towards one of the projects.”
“They were expensive projects that kind of went over the limit,” Eckhardt continued. “But with the Borough’s help and the offset of some of the cost, we’re gonna be able to do all three sorely needed things that have been on the minds of Freehold residents for several years.”
To learn more about the Freehold Borough Participatory Budgeting Committee, you can visit their website.
Freehold Borough Council meetings take place at 30 Mechanic Street, Freehold.
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