Independent budget calculator shows cost of tax hikes, fee increases

A freelance technology consultant has constructed an independent budget calculator to help taxpayers figure out just how much the changes in the Newfoundland and Labrador budget will cost them. 

"I quickly realized that it wasn't as easy as all that," said Bradley Russell, describing how he set to work on building a tool that provincial government said was too complicated to make. 

"A lot of the information that was provided for this budget wasn't really provided in an accessible format, so it provided difficult to see exactly where you stood."

Russell, who builds online tools for customers, realized there was a lot of interest in building a tool that others could use. 

He said it took about three weeks to put the calculator together.

The calculator doesn't just figure out larger increases, like the increases to personal income tax and the addition of the deficit reduction levy. 

It includes hundreds of smaller increases to ferry rates, provincial park entrance fees and other certificates and applications.

Last month, the province released its budget calculator that shows lower income earners how much they will receive from the new income and seniors supplement.

However, it doesn't account for any of the tax and fee increases.

Finance Minister Cathy Bennett told reporters it would be too complicated for the provincial government to build a full calculator.

'Wasn't overly complicated'

"It certainly was a challenge," said Russell. "It wasn't overly complicated, it was just very time consuming."

The NDP has put out its own calculator that covers many of the increases but doesn't account for the new income supplement or fee increases.

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• N.L. NDP launch tax hike calculator

Russell said his calculator gives people a more accurate reflection of the true cost based on individual circumstances.

"For example, if I commute to Bell Island every day and I figure I'm going to take about 100 trips a year, I can account for what my increase is going to be," said Russell.

Russell said he's not taking a stand for or against the budget, and his calculator advertises "no spin, no BS."

Russell has been involved with the PC Party.  He served on the executive in 2013.

The budget calculator is good exposure for Russell's freelance work, but he said that's not the main reason why he created it.

Russell added it's also open-source so anyone can look at how the calculations are done, and if he made a mistake he's happy to fix it.