The Boston Herald reports another worrisome sign about the Patrick administration: Proposed spending on Massachusetts administrative secretariats for fiscal 2009 is up sharply, even as the state faces a $1.3 billion deficit in that year, which starts July 1.

Some examples: Outlays at the Executive Office of Administration & Finance will rise 18 percent, to $424 million; those at the Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development 17 percent, to $252 million, and those at the Executive Office of Transportation 45 percent, to $247 million.

These numbers do not represent direct spending on such things as fixing roads or building affordable housing. They are administrative costs that are essentially extensions of the governor’s office. (The number of workers directly under his authority has grown 2.5 percent this year.) We smell some political hiring here, along with a lack of managerial rigor.

The rates of increase in a fiscally troubled year make benign explanations suspect. The signs that the Patrick administration is out of control multiply.