OBA: biennial budget would reduce scrutiny and oversight
Holding a Budget every two years would mean less financial scrutiny and oversight, according to the One Bermuda Alliance leader Jarion Richardson.
During a live question-and-answer session on the Government’s Facebook page on Tuesday, the Premier floated the idea of moving the process to a biennial basis.
David Burt also said that affordable housing was the island’s top economic issue.
Mr Richardson claimed yesterday that the Government was out of touch with Bermuda’s reality, saying the island’s number one problem was not affordable housing but “affordable living”.
He said: “Housing stock is short, in part, because, under this government, landlords noticed renting might ultimately wind up costing more than leaving the apartment empty. And for those who tried to make lemonade from lemons, the Government then made it harder to rent to tourists.”
Last year, the Government passed the Vacation Rental (Application and Registration) Fees Act, which introduced a new fee.
Mr Richardson added: “The combination of the staggering cost of food and healthcare, lack of numbers in the workforce and more residents entering retirement age, makes for a bleak outlook for Bermuda.
“And let’s not forget the never-ending red tape which makes what should be the easiest tasks, tedious. We need to go back to basics.”
During the Facebook event, David Burt outlined the workload involved in the annual Budget, saying that numbers would be finalised towards the end of January.
“That gives the Ministry of Finance time to go ahead and get the Budget books produced, to make sure everything is in place.”
The Premier added: “It is a very complex process. One of the things I will say is that the Government is actually considering moving to a two-year budget process because of the amount of work and energy that is done.
“If you look, the budget period finishes in April. You have May, June, July and right after you are back to the budget process again.
“It takes a lot of time from public officers, the same permanent secretaries who are enforcing things, the controllers in the various departments, so that is one of the things we are examining and discussing – whether or not we move to a two-year budget process, and what are the implications of that.
“There are other countries that have moved to a two-year budget process, and that’s something we are considering as well.”
The Government recently released the Bermuda Digest of Statistics which showed the population of Bermuda had dropped to a 20-year low, according to 2022 estimates.
Mr Richardson added: “It has been almost eight years since a census of Bermuda was conducted. Since then, we simply do not know how many hundreds, if not thousands, of Bermudians have emigrated in search of a better life. An affordable life.”
He claimed that “under this government the cost of living has skyrocketed because we don’t have enough people”.
Mr Richardson said: “Then we created an unwelcoming environment for potential new people, who would help spread the cost burden, thanks to years of blaming people from overseas for home-grown problems.
“And in light of these kinds of problems, the Government is considering moving to a less frequent Budget schedule — that means less financial scrutiny and oversight.”
Mr Burt highlighted on Tuesday that the possible switch to a two-year Budget process was among options under review to streamline the Government’s balance of revenues and spending.
According to Mr Richardson the Government “has lost touch with our reality” and needed to stop with the “glamorous trips and glitzy ideas”.
“Let’s get back to basics — making Bermuda a highly functioning environment, open to new and innovative ideas, new businesses and guests, tourists and guest workers alike.
“Let’s get the politicians back to legislating and oversight and leave people to get on with their own affairs.
“This includes slashing anything holding us back, like red tape, and updating our laws so that whoever is in Government can never run us this far off the road again.”
The online forum on the Pre-Budget Report this week heard that the Government is on course to present its first balanced budget in more than 20 years for 2024-25 — a critical first step in grappling with the island’s debt of $3.3 billion.
The Government was asked last night for comment on Mr Richardson’s statement but did not respond by the time of publication.
Once again, the One Bermuda Alliance will do or say anything to try to be relevant. Oversight of public finances is a matter for the Public Accounts Committee, which by law is chaired by the Opposition.
Instead of putting out press releases with slogans, the Opposition should do the job it is paid to do by the taxpayer.
The Progressive Labour Party will not be distracted, as we have poured significant investment into affordable housing, opening more units every month, and we are not afraid to make the difficult choices required to boost the number of homes available for rent.
Regarding healthcare, this is the same OBA that last year proposed to tax healthcare in Bermuda, which would drive healthcare costs higher, while this PLP government cut taxes for 86 per cent of workers and businesses, which the OBA did not support.
The public know that the OBA has no plan to increase affordable housing in Bermuda, and slogans like “Back to Basics” won’t provide more affordable housing.
The working people of Bermuda know who is in their corner, and that is this PLP government, which is making the investments to increase affordable housing in Bermuda, while doing all that we can to reduce taxes and fees for Bermudian workers.
• To view the Pre-Budget report, see Related Media.
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