Premier Paula Cox today urged taxpayers to get involved in helping Government draw up the next Budget.She released a pre-Budget report in the House of Assembly and later told a lunchtime press conference that it was crucial citizens felt a part of the new “open budget process”.“It isn't manna from heaven,” Ms Cox said of the contents of the public purse. “It's your taxpayer dollars.”In her statement to the House this morning, the Premier said Government's financial statements for 2010/11 were not yet ready to be tabled in the House, though typically they would be by now.She said the draft statements, which were unlikely to change significantly, showed that current expenses on a modified cash basis for the fiscal year were $1.12 billion, while revenue was $991 million. Capital spending was $120 million.Ms Cox said it was hoped the open budget process would “foster greater public participation and clarity in budget decisions”.“As I have said many times before, budgets are not just numbers on a page, they are about our people. Governments are here to serve people and it is important that citizens are informed about the budget process and understand what it means to them.“Budgets affect lives, budgets affect business, budgets affect our children and budgets affect our retirees. Budgets affect all of us and it is vital that our people are educated about the formulation of our country's budget.”The Finance Minister reported that Bermuda's economy contracted by 0.7 percent in 2010, based on current market prices. She said when that was adjusted for inflation, the level of economic activity or real GDP decreased by 1.9 percent.“This...was largely driven by declines in output in construction, business activities and wholesale and retail sectors,” she added.“These declines were partially offset by growth in the hotel and restaurant sector and some stabilisation in the financial intermediation sector.”The Premier said town hall meetings would be held in January 2012 to discuss the pre-Budget report and its recommendations. In the meantime, she invited members of the public to submit their feedback to openbudget[AT]gov.bm.* See the file attached below for the full report.