Want $500 to spend?

Then come down to City Hall this afternoon or Sunday and make your "withdrawal."

And, okay, it's a pretend $500, but you're provided with this amount and allowed to figure out how to distribute and prioritize it amongst different Walnut Creek city programs. This exercise will help the City Council figure how to prioritize its funds for the 2010-12 budget during these lean economic times.

This exercise also is part of the city's Community Conversations on Balancing the Future. During earlier Community Conversation workshops, people who live and work in Walnut Creek helped define its future goals in a half dozen basic areas, including economic vitality, safety, community and neighborhoods, and culture and recreation.

City spokeswoman Gayle Vassar describes this $500 spending spree as a "fast and fun process, using a computerized virtual bank account that asks people to invest in the areas they feel are most important for the future of their community."

Vassar adds that close to 100 people have already participated. The two times left are 4 to 8 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

People are asked to bring some form of idenfication, such as a driver's license, household bill or business card, to verify that they live or work in the community.