Edmonton: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today released its 1998 Edmonton Voter's Guide. All 42 candidates running for mayoralty and councillor positions were given a five-question "yes" or "no" survey which dealt with property taxes, privatization and contracting out, business subsidies and direct democracy.

28 candidates responded with either answers to the survey or their own written responses. Nine candidates said "yes" to the question "Do you promise not to increase property taxes until a full privatization and contracting-out study is complete " That compares to 23 candidates in Calgary who said 'yes' to a similar question.

"As a non-partisan organization, the Federation does not endorse any particular candidate," said CTF Alberta director Mark Milke. "But we do seek to provide voters with the candidate's views on issues related to taxation, spending, and direct democracy."

Milke noted that the property tax question is particularly important this year because of the switch to Market Value Assessment (MVA). "Some homeowners will see a tax increase simply because their property values shoot up higher than the average across the city. Another tax increase could slip in through the back door if the switch to MVA is not made revenue neutral for the city as a whole," said Milke. "In addition, the nine candidates who committed to a privatization and contracting out study before personally allowing for a tax increase, have shown that they want the city to examine the 'expense' side of the city ledger before going back to the public for more tax dollars."

Nine Candidates Who Said 'Yes' to the Property Tax "Cap":

Mayoralty candidates: Schumacher, Cheryl

Councillor candidates: Bryan Kent Anderson; Greg Dagg; Maurice Fritze; Wendy Kinsella; Don Koziak; , Gordon McIntosh; Adil Pirbhai; Thomas Tomlinson;