Higher Taxes in Store for Pennsylvania, Philadelphia?

The Associated Press has a story on the higher taxes that could be in store for Pennsylvanians. These include both the taxes proposed by Governor Rendell – on tobacco and natural gas extraction – and the idea from House Democrats of a 1 percentage-point increase in the state personal income tax.

More on the state budget

In related news, the City of Philadelphia is also seeking a tax increase, asking the state for permission to increase the rate in the city from a 7% to 8%.  This would obviously make Philadelphia sales tax 2 percentage points higher than it Pennsylvania suburbs, and a full 8 points higher than across the border in Delaware, which has no sales tax.