At first glance, yesterday?s Budget is a good one ? so much so that political observers could be forgiven if they come down with a touch of election fever.

There are no significant tax increases, and Government is finally getting to grips with two of the most pressing issues the Island is facing ? housing and the quality of life for senior citizens.

That?s all to the good, and certainly on housing, welcome news indeed after years of Government inaction.

Those hoping that there would be actual tax cuts given the buoyant state of Government revenues will be disappointed, however. Apart from some duty breaks for fishermen and for those contractors engaged in approved affordable housing projects, there?s precious little.

Customs duties remain broadly the same ? and returning residents may end up paying more on goods purchased abroad with a flat rate of 25 percent being established, which may or may not help local retailers.

Payroll tax also remains fixed at 13.75 percent, maintaining the burden on employers and employees alike.

Instead, Ms Cox has chosen to take the increases in tax revenues to send Government spending spiralling upwards again ? this year by 13 percent to close to $800 million ? an 80 percent increase in spending since the Progressive Labour Party came to power in 1998.

This year?s spending increase is ten percent more than the rate of inflation over the same period , and considerably more than the recent inflation-busting pay increases awarded to Government workers.

No one would disagree with increased spending to provide added benefits for seniors, additional housing and improved education. It is also good to see a slight increase in the marketing budget for tourism, which has been fixed for years.

But the overall rate of increase begs the question of how much fiscal self-discipline Government has.

One area where there seems to have been little discipline is in hirin. Government will now employ 5,357 people, an increase of 169 or three percent in a year, and 14 percent of the total workforce, a remarkable number even in a small island which must provide services that similar communities of this size could draw from elsewhere in larger countries.

Since 1998, Government employment has risen from 4,666, an increase of 16 percent.

While it is inarguable that any organisation will have to add staff in different areas, it is just as much the case that the need for staff in other areas will have to be pruned from time to time. And yet in Government this rarely happens, zero-based budgeting or no zero-based budgeting.

What has kept Government?s finances stable given the increase in spending is the buoyancy of the economy and hence tax revenues, for which Government must take some credit.

What is of concern is that Government seems more willing to take people?s money out of their pockets to spend on more and more programmes, rather than leaving it in the hands of the people who earned it while creating the possibility that Bermuda will lose its competitive edge, especially in an international business world that is, in Ms Cox?s words, ?a markedly less congenial environment? than it used to be.