The City of Calgary has approved a new budget and residential property tax increase of almost 8%. VCC's executive director, Meaghon Reid, discussed the new budget with CBC, explaining that the additional social spending will offer much-needed relief to vulnerable residents while at the same time higher residential property taxes will put pressure on many already struggling to meet their basic needs.

"The level of panic and anxiety that people are feeling every day is extraordinary, in terms of their finances. We've never seen what we're seeing now at Vibrant Communities Calgary. And we have a lot of people that have worked in poverty reduction for decades," she said.

Meaghon also discussed the tough balancing act council was faced with Global News, stating: “Some of these investments that were made, for example to fund the affordable housing strategy and transit, some of those will take a while to realize. But it’s really important that we’re making those investments now … That doesn’t necessarily help the people who are feeling the pinch right now though. If you have a child under 12 who [can] ride transit for free, you will save money because of the investments that were made, but if you don’t use public transit, and you’re seeing that extra almost $20 on your tax bill, that can also be really difficult.”

Read the full articles: Calgarians weigh in on city's new budget and Calgarians weigh in on city budget adjustment and tax increase.