The Democratic primary race for mayor of Mount Vernon is heating up with elections less than a week away.

The City Council voted 3-2 to subpoena city tax documents from incumbent Mayor Ernest Davis on Tuesday, saying they have been seeking certain information since last March. The documents in question are tax agreements called PILOTs, payments in lieu of taxes, which are used to lure development to the city.Davis says the subpoenas are strictly political. With the Democratic primary fast approaching, Davis says his rivals on the City Council and his rival for the primary, Legislator Clinton Young, are behind the move.

Davis and Young went to the mat during a debate and tossed audits and reports at each other when questioned about the city's troubled Urban Renewal Agency and initial allegations that $1.7 million was unaccounted for. Davis maintains an independent audit determined the amount in question to be no more than $600,000.

The mayor says both issues are timed to hurt him in next week's primary. Davis says he's hopeful the voters will see past the politics.