The Government rolled out the 2025-26 Bermuda Budget near the start of the month, which David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, said was the first balanced budget in years.

Describing the Budget as a “turning point,” he announced that it had closed a longstanding deficit and could now pay off debts and fill reserves.

Mr Burt unveiled his “investment in our people” by levying several tax breaks and focusing on funding healthcare, education and infrastructure.

He said revenues were expected to reach $1.43 billion — 16 per cent or $198 million above the original estimate for the previous fiscal year — with an $11 million increase in payroll tax receipts expected through job growth.

The Ministry of Health’s budget swelled to $245.4 million after a 22 per cent increase of $45 million, with $177 million reserved for the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute.

Mr Burt outlined the goal of introducing universal healthcare and increasing health insurance coverage.

The Ministry of Education was given a $149.2 million budget, up by $9.8 million on the previous year. The overseas consultant Innovation Unit received $2.5 million, while substitute teachers were allocated a 26 per cent increase.

The Ministry of National Security’s budget grew by $10.9 million to $126.9 million, which the Premier said could help fill 18 vacancies in the Bermuda Police Service, Department of Customs and cybersecurity unit, while building infrastructure and equipment.

Meanwhile, the newly formed Ministry of Housing and Municipalities was given $7.5 million, with capital funding to the Bermuda Housing Corporation increasing by $4.2 million to $17 million to provide affordable housing.

Douglas De Couto, the Shadow Minister of Finance, later accused the report of being disingenuous during his response in the House of Assembly.

He said that, while the One Bermuda Alliance supported customs duty breaks on construction material and was open to collaboration, it was wary of the corporate income tax being used as a “silver bullet”.

Dr De Couto added that the Premier’s insistence that budget surplus had been reached the previous year was a “charade” relying on off-balance-sheet spending and use of the Sinking Fund.

Jarion Richardson, then the Leader of the Opposition, backed Dr De Couto’s opinion, stating: “This recovery is not being felt by Bermudians.

“We’re getting many complaints on the doorsteps, and this Budget is part of that problem.

“It is a Budget that is built on an illusion and a hope. Illusions are no basis for progress.”

On May 1, four gunmen entered Legends bar in Sandys at about 10.30pm and opened fire, killing Jasmin Smith, 32, and Shaquan Williams, 29, while wounding three others.

The West End community rallied for a vigil a week later, with hundreds lining the street around Simmons Place to call for an end to gang violence.

Bermudian hiker Tiffany Slaton, 27, was miraculously found after going missing for more than two weeks while hiking in California.

Ms Slaton set out on April 29 to go camping in the area of Huntington Lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Her parents, Bobby and Fredrina Slaton, sounded the alarm when they did not hear from her the next day.

Search parties combed through 600 square miles of remote wilderness trying to find her. Ms Slaton was later discovered on a resort 45 miles from her last known location on May 14, a day before her birthday, by the resort’s owner.

Fresno County sheriffs said that Ms Slaton was “dehydrated” but “otherwise in good condition”.

She later told the public that she survived more than a dozen snowstorms, an avalanche and two landslides, as well as a leg injury from falling off the side of a mountain.

Ms Slaton added: “Without Vermilion Resort, I would not be here at this moment because that was the thirteenth heavy snowstorm I had been in — and it was going to be the last one.

“If he [Christopher Michael Gutierrez, the resort owner] hadn’t come that day, they would have found my body there.”

Aaron Perinchief, Nasaje Anderson, Jukai Burgess and QuaZori Brangman were acquitted on May 29 of the killing of Letrae Doeman after a six-week trial.

Mr Doeman, 19, was killed in the early hours of July 1, 2022, while being the pillion passenger of a motorcycle that was fired upon in Flatts by two men on a black Honda motorcycle.

Later that day, police investigating the case arrested the four men and discovered a black motorcycle that matched the description of the vehicle used by the attackers, and shopping bags of clothing with gunshot residue and DNA from Mr Anderson and Mr Burgess.

The men’s lawyers argued that there was insufficient evidence to prove any active involvement in the incident.

A majority verdict was delivered after eight hours of deliberation.

Lawrence “Larry” Scott, an outspoken former political figure and radio host, died in mid-May at age 78.

A prominent civil and criminal advocate in the firm of Scott & Scott, Mr Scott served as a United Bermuda Party senator from 1993 to 1998.

He was elected as a Hamilton councillor in 2012 alongside Charles Gosling, the mayor.

Municipal elections to fill Mr Scott’s place were announced at the end of the year, with the position won by businessman Michael Branco.