Mayoral candidate Giorgio Mammolitti has promised to reduce property taxes by five per cent for both home and business owners if he wins the Oct. 25 election, with an even larger tax break for lower-income seniors.

In a speech at the Columbus Centre on Tuesday, the North West councillor said he would eliminate property taxes for senior citizens living in households earning less than $65,000.

He also vowed to help family members who care for seniors by giving them an annual $10,000 allowance.

Mammoliti said the measures should give older Torontonians "some dignity" and a choice to stay in their own homes instead of moving to retirement homes.

The plan to cut property taxes by five per cent would cost about $135 million dollars a year, he told reporters at the community centre on Lawrence Avenue. He said in a release he could cover the cost by making "bureaucratic cuts" at City Hall, as well as introducing a Toronto-based lottery and raising boat club fees.

Mammoliti is one of a group of six frontrunners in the mayoral race leading up to the Oct. 25 election. The others include Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman, Joe Pantalone, Rob Ford and Sarah Thomson.