Mystery surrounds whether Premier Paula Cox will proceed with “open budgeting” now that the general election is on the horizon.All Government departments would have submitted their budget requests for the next fiscal year by the end of last month.Last year Ms Cox, who is also Finance Minister, initiated “open budgeting” with a “pre-budget” report in December, followed by town hall meetings to discuss the nation’s finances the following month.Government even set up an e-mail address for public feedback on the budget plans.“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,” the Premier told the media.“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.”In February, during the Budget debate, she promised that the unprecedented consultation would continue with a mid-year review.Asked if the promised review would go ahead, a Government spokesperson could not say.“As it relates to the Mid Year Budget/Economic Review, the Ministry of Finance does not have an update to provide at this time,” said the spokesperson.Andrew Simons, One Bermuda Alliance candidate for Pembroke Central raised the issue on his Facebook page last week as a response to ruling party candidate David Burt who had called on the OBA to reveal the costs of its proposals.The Facebook post asked Mr Burt when the mid-year review and pre-budget report will be released by GovernmentAnd Mr Simons noted that the pre-Budget report was released on December 12 last year and called for it to be released earlier given that the election has been called for December 17.“At a minimum, could you tell us if we are on track to meet the budget estimates published in March?” Mr Simons asked on his page.The Royal Gazette did ask Economy Minister Patrice Minors last month where her budgeting stood. The Minister said it was “within the parameters”.