Roberts votes against income tax increase
State Rep. Larry Roberts (D-South Union) said he voted against the tax and fee increases that passed the House last week for several reasons. “I cannot support tax increases when there are still cuts that can be made. In addition, the property tax reductions that were promised were not there,” he said.
In October, Roberts voted for an earlier proposal that included funding to reduce local property taxes. However, this latest measure, which passed by a vote of 104-89, did not include those property tax reductions.
“The governor’s original proposal and what people had been led to believe by legislative leaders all along was that when the budget wrapped up, it would contain some measure of local property tax relief,” Roberts said. “The Senate torpedoed that at the last minute, and I wasn’t going to be stampeded into supporting an increase in the personal income tax just to have a vote before Christmas.
“Overall, the spending plan was acceptable and in line with what the governor told the people he was working for. But just as urgently as school districts and human service agencies needed a complete budget, the working homeowners of Pennsylvania need a break from the absurd reliance on property taxes.”
The budget revises a partial package that the Republican majority forced through the General Assembly in March, within days of when it was outlined by Gov. Ed Rendell, and without allowing public hearings or proper time for the legislators to study the plan, Roberts said.
The revision passed Monday will increase cigarette taxes, land line and cell phone taxes and a variety of other fees, and raise the state’s personal income tax from 2.8 percent to 3.07 percent beginning in January. The increased taxes will be used to help pay for increased education funding and to restore funding for many county human services programs that were cut from the budget earlier this year.
“We have promises that when the Legislature returns in January that $1 billion in property tax reductions to homeowners across Pennsylvania will be on the table to accommodate much of the increase in PIT,” Roberts added. “I will be here holding the feet of the Senate Republicans who made that promise to the fire.”
Roberts reminds constituents that questions regarding property taxes can be answered at his constituent services offices, located at 31A Connellsville St. in Uniontown (724-439-2329) or on Memorial Boulevard in Connellsville (724-626-4461).