The austerity dialogue in Zeist: How the Municipality of Zeist harnesses the ideas of ‘citizen-experts’

Costs and savings

The co-design process has resulted in a structural budget reform of €6.2m. In the first fiscal year after the participation process the budget reform resulted in savings over €1m. The savings target was able to be achieved four years after the start of the participation process.

The direct costs of the participation process were €50,000. These costs included costs for facilitating the expert meetings organised at several locations in Zeist, costs of communication and external consultants (to replace the Chefs de Dossier if necessary). The ‘citizen experts’ were not paid any fees. The costs of the austerity dialogue consisted of less than 2 per cent of the reform process.

The staff time of the 16 officers involved in the dialogue were funded through the mainstream budget.