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Saskatoon mayoral candidate Kelley Moore says she would not be “guessing” about the 2017 property tax increase if the city had released more information.

Moore posted on her Facebook page last week that the 2017 tax increase “may be” higher than 10 per cent and claimed it was “the real issue” in the election.

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That would be the highest tax increase in recent memory — more than twice the 3.96 per cent in the 2016 budget and the 3.89 per cent predicted in the 2017 preliminary budget numbers.

Fellow mayoral candidates Don Atchison and Charlie Clark criticized the suggestion last week. Clark called it a “scare tactic.”

“If city hall had released the preliminary budget so that people could see what the value is, we wouldn’t be guessing at this point,” Moore said in an interview on Monday. “We have to look to Mr. Atchison and Mr. Clark to tell us what the real increase is.”

Moore said in the expiring four-year term when both Atchison and Clark served on council, property tax increases have averaged 5.43 per cent.