Today?s Budget will be completely worthless unless the ideas behind the dollars become reality, the United Bermuda Party declared yesterday.

Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons had high hopes for today?s release of the 2005/06 Budget.

?I hope people won?t be saying what they said last year ? that they felt lucky it wasn?t worse.

?It is our contention that, with proper planning, real progress could have been made on housing, on seniors, on healthcare reform, on violent crime and the issue of gangs.

?But we haven?t got that planning and Bermuda is paying a high price.?

Specifically, the public are paying $120 million more each year in taxes than in 1998, he said. Meanwhile Government is facing financial challenges such as the construction of the new senior secondary school, the Bermuda Housing Corporation scandal, and significant losses in tourism revenue ? all of which ?didn?t have to happen, but did?, Dr. Gibbons said.

Government seemed to be good at producing results for a ?select few?, he added ? but have not produced similarly positive results for the vast majority of Bermudians.

?Unless some ideas are turned into action,? he said, ?it?s all meaningless. Just talking about the Social Agenda and sound fiscal policy won?t move us ahead.

?Unless the money is put to good use, we are going nowhere ? meanwhile taxes and borrowing will continue to increase.?

Dr. Gibbons singled small businesses out on his wish list for the 2005/06 Budget.

?It?s pretty clear the tax burden (on small businesses) needs to be looked at,? he said. One simple solution would be to review the thresholds on payroll tax for small businesses. The thresholds of $100,000 and $200,000 for reduced tax rates on small businesses have not been examined in any major way since 1995, he said.

Those thresholds could be shifted to be in line with inflation over the past ten years, he said.

Since 1998, payroll tax has increased by some $70 million per year, leaving a burden of about $2,000 on each small business employee/employer. ?We feel that should be examined.?

Shadow Housing Minister Wayne Furbert said the Budget will test Government?s commitment to solving the housing crisis.

?This is beyond a crisis now,? he said. ?I am not expecting Government to meet the full burden, the private sector has to play a major role.?

But he said Government must help to ensure the private sector will have a return on its investment should people decide to go into the real estate business.

While Government ?finally? has a policy targeting high-end housing, he added in reference to the recent ban on the sale of high-end properties to non-Bermudians, ?they have failed to implement a comprehensive plan targeting low-end housing.

?I am hoping for an enlightenment period,? he said. ?(Today) is not for laying out policy, that?s for the Throne Speech. The Budget lays out the funding for the year ? put aside money for housing and in the next couple of months outline a plan.?

Shadow Health Minister Michael Dunkley was hoping for concrete commitments in today?s Budget speech and not just ?vague promises? on Bermuda?s healthcare system.

There wee a ?multitude? of issues which need to be more effectively addressed, he said, including drastically improving the hospital?s infrastructure, easing the financial burden of health insurance, further initiatives to tackle obesity and smoking and a revamping of the financial assistance system to make it more ?user-friendly?.

Shadow Seniors spokeswoman Louise Jackson said her greatest anxiety on the eve of the Budget was financial assistance for seniors living on Bermuda Housing Trust (BHT) properties.

Mrs. Jackson also called for funding for a dedicated nursing homes inspector and a special Ombudsman just for seniors.

Government is currently advertising for the post of an Ombudsman, however Mrs. Jackson claimed that as Government paid no attention to seniors, the Ombudsman would do likewise, and so a special one for seniors was necessary.