Strategic Cost Selection in Participatory Budgeting

The city council fixed the budget and invited the citizens to propose projects that might be implemented, letting them know that the funding decisions will be made by voting. Soon, three groups of activists formed, one focused on cycling infrastructure, one committed to making the city greener, and one dedicated to improving the quality of life for senior citizens. Each group decided to submit a single project, but they quickly realized that they have many options to choose from. For example, cycling enthusiasts could propose repainting the markings on a few bike paths, which would be very cheap, or they could request one or more new bike paths, which would cost more, or--with the full available budget--they could greatly improve the whole biking infrastructure while also offering free bikes for rent. In other words, they could spend any amount of money on cycling (at least if it were above a certain necessary minimum) and the more they could get, the better a project they could offer.