Tell Officials How To Spend City Money In Forest Hills

QUEENS, NY — Forest Hills residents have a chance to tell officials how to spend city money locally.

Community Board 6, which represents the neighborhoods of Forest Hills and Rego Park, is urging neighbors to fill out a recently-released spending priorities survey, which will inform what the board pushes for in next year's city budget.

The city budget is determined annually based on negotiations between the City Council and Mayors Office, which community boards — and other interest groups — weigh in on, usually through Council representatives.

"The Community Board always provides input into the budget," the board explained in the surey. "And this year we are asking for yours."

The survey is divided between capital expense items — long-lasting brick and mortar projects — and expense budget items — service and material related projects and repairs.

Capital expense projects range from supportive housing to biking infrastructure, and expense budget projects include open streets and food pantries, plus many more.

For each category the board lists over a dozen projects and asks neighbors to rank five per-category in order of importance.

There's also a chance for neighbors to suggest an original capital or expense item for consideration in the form of a short answer question.

Fill out the survey here.