Poll: PA residents already taxed to the max

A new poll commissioned by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review finds that 7 in 10 Pennsylvanians oppose Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to allow counties to enact another 1 percent sales tax.

From a story by Brad Bumsted:

The responders rejected by a 71 percent to 26 percent margin Rendell's suggestion to give 65 counties an add-on to the state's 6 percent sales tax. Three percent of those polled didn't know. Allegheny County and Philadelphia, which charge a percentage point, would not get to levy more.

The poll by Franklin & Marshall College surveyed 644 adults between Feb. 17 and Sunday. It has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

While there's no surprise that Pennsylvania residents have no appetite for new taxes, the poll also revealed that 70 percent of those polled opposed another Rendell initiative to study the consolidation of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts.

The proposal has received wide editorial support from the state's newspapers and is seen by many as a way to eventually eliminate the hated property tax.

From Bumsted's story:

By a 70 percent to 21 percent margin, with 9 percent unsure, residents said they oppose Rendell's idea to consolidate 500 school districts into 100 as a way to reduce costs.

Read the full story, which also has poll results on Arlen Specter, at the newspaper's Web site.