This year's local elections are not just about street cleaning or kindergarten places. Far sharper issues are on the agenda this time.

"A major driving force will clearly be dissatisfaction with the government," said political analyst and Liberal Citizen Foundation (SALK) head Tarmo Jüristo.

"That really shouldn't be an issue in local elections — it's more of a nationwide question — but the cost of living certainly is one," said economist and presidential economic adviser Kaspar Oja.

Both narratives are being pushed mainly by opposition parties. Jüristo, who generally leans toward liberal parties, admitted that such a strategy is by no means a bad one if the goal is to win.

"The thing about the political situation is that calm times don't really speak to people. If people feel something is going very wrong or in the wrong direction, they're easier to mobilize with campaigns. The opposition has a relatively easy job bringing out dissatisfied voters," Jüristo said.

"Local elections always come midway through a Riigikogu election cycle, by which time ruling coalitions have usually made the tough decisions, and locals often turn into elections that serve as outlets for discontent toward those in power," said public administration expert Külli Taro.

Although the campaigns haven't fully kicked off yet, many parties have already published their promises. Taro divides those that local councils cannot deliver into three categories. The first includes issues that are strictly within the jurisdiction of the state.

"This time, free higher education stood out to me, as well as everything related to taxation. All tax rates, new taxes, changes to existing ones — those fall under the Riigikogu's authority," Taro said.

The second category contains promises no one can actually fulfill.

"Neither local governments nor the central government can deliver them. These are promises of the sort where, for example, prices will be lowered," Taro said.

The third group are promises that have long since been fulfilled.

"This time I noticed the promise to allow referendums and public consultations at the local level. That's been enshrined in law since 1993," the public administration expert added.

Economists are not thrilled about what politicians are promising or where they plan to direct taxpayers' money. Kaspar Oja, the president's economic adviser, agrees, noting that while Toompea (nationwide or central government-level –ed.) issues are unavoidable in these elections, voters should at least look at what kinds of budgetary decisions each party is proposing.

"It's concerning. Right now it's hard to say whether any of them would maintain our traditional fiscal conservatism. In fact, every party has hinted that spending should be increased," Oja said.

Of course, the real core issues of local elections vary from place to place.

"In Lääneranna Municipality, people are angry about the restructuring of the school network; in Tartu, the debate still revolves around the Downtown Cultural Center (SÜKU). There's also the issue of wind turbines, and then Nursipalu — all cases where the central government is trying to overrule local communities, to push things through without residents' knowledge or against their wishes," said sociologist Juhan Kivirähk.

If a candidate claims they will abolish the car tax or cut value-added tax, Kivirähk does not see them as a good choice.

"You should vote for someone you'd be willing to trust with your wallet for a week or a month, because essentially that's what this is — we delegate our trust for decisions to be made on our behalf, with our tax money being spent," Kivirähk said.

Some voter groups are hardly addressed at all in political campaigns — young people among them. Yet, compared with the average voter, they could be more engaged, since election issues are discussed in schools and they have easy access to information online.

"When a young voter comes up to a campaign tent, sure, balloons or chocolate are handed out. But if you look at social media or the media landscape, there's no real focus on young voters. Even though 16-year-olds can already be voting in local elections for the third time now, you definitely can't say young voters have been a priority," said Henry Kask, a specialist with the Estonian National Youth Council.

Although turnout at local elections is generally lower than in Riigikogu elections, this time every party has brought out its heavy artillery, fighting to see which star candidates can pull in the most voters. The candidate lists include numerous current members of parliament, members of the European Parliament and ministers — many of whom are unlikely to actually take a seat in a municipal council.

"For me, the most interesting case this election will be Lasnamäe. There's no doubt who will win that district and it won't be Jüri Ratas or Marina Kaljurand, even though they're running there. Even if we imagine some strange parallel universe where Marina Kaljurand or Jüri Ratas won Lasnamäe, they obviously wouldn't go on to lead Tallinn or deal with Lasnamäe's issues," Jüristo said.

"In Tallinn, it's more or less clear who will win, but the question is by how much. Tartu will be very interesting, of course. The Reform Party has ruled there for decades, but it looks like Isamaa will be throwing down the gauntlet this time," Kivirähk said.

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