PENNSYLVANIA Residents react to rise in state taxes and fees

Pennsylvanians favor spending money on education, not pork.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Dividing tips from the lunchtime rush at a downtown seafood eatery, bartender Rick Faust counted himself among those who are willing to spend more on public education, but bemoaned that neither he, nor most people he knows, has much money to spare.
"I've got three kids and it makes sense to put more money out there for schools," said Faust, 33. "But I'm already paying $5,000 in property taxes on my home and ... it's not a mansion. I just hope they're using the taxes the right way."
As Gov. Ed Rendell signed a package of bills Tuesday raising more than $1 billion in taxes, that was the sentiment of some Pennsylvanians: Spend more on schools, if absolutely necessary, just don't divert it for pet projects or patronage jobs that benefit a select few.
Raising taxes to spend more on education is "OK as long as that's where it goes," said Dr. Ken Graf, a general surgeon in Wormleysburg, a Harrisburg suburb. "I have a lot of problems with the bonuses that the state people want to give themselves or each other when they need to fund education programs."
See burden for poor
But worst of all, said Gene Summerson, a 69-year-old motel owner in rural North Bend, is an income tax boost that will exact a heavy toll on workers who live paycheck-to-paycheck, while wealthier citizens can use tax deductions to limit their exposure.
"The common person cannot write off most anything," Summerson said. "Rich people get lawyers and they find a way around these taxes."
With Rendell's signature, on Jan. 1 Pennsylvanians will see a blizzard of higher taxes or fees on income, cigarettes, administrative filings such as birth certificates, and wireless telephone service, among other things.
The Democratic governor defended the measures Tuesday, saying that a large portion of the spending will resolve a recurring deficit left over from previous administrations, and he pledged that gambling-financed property-tax cuts would pass the Legislature by February and provide some relief.
For nearly six months into the fiscal year, Senate Republicans stalled Rendell's push for higher taxes and increased education spending, saying that a spate of job losses made it a poor time to add to the taxpayers' burden.
Agreement
The stalemate culminated last week in intensive negotiations between Rendell and legislative leaders and, finally, legislative passage of bills raising close to $1.2 billion annually to finance new learning initiatives sought by Rendell, restore items cut from the budget, and avert a deficit.
On top of that, $180 million from new cigarette taxes will help physicians pay their share of a state-run insurance fund that covers malpractice claims against them.
To get lawmakers to consider at least some of his education priorities, Rendell held up more than $4.2 billion in basic education funding. That money is now being released, plus $4.6 million to cover the interest on loans that schools drew on to keep classrooms open.
Included in the spending is $175 million to help finance public-school programs, such as full-day kindergarten or reduced class sizes. There is also about $215 million for mental health services, substance-addiction treatment, and hospitals and health care, some of which was cut in March to balance the budget.
The package also contains $34 million for House and Senate operations.
Now that cell phone usage will be taxed at 5 percent in Pennsylvania, 26-year-old Collins Jonas of Philadelphia said he would look into making free calls on the Internet.
As for higher income taxes?
"I'm just going to have to suffer with the other residents," Jonas said.