17,496 Reasons to Reject Higher Taxes

How high would you say Pennsylvania’s state and local tax burden is per family of four? $5,000?$10,000? Maybe even $15,000?

If you guessed the latter, you’d be close – but still no cigar.

The commonwealth’s state and local tax burden is more than $17,000 per family of four—$17,496 to be exact, or a whopping $4,374 per capita, according the latest numbers available from the Tax Foundation. This represents the 10th highest state and local tax burden in the nation.

Despite this astronomical number, Gov. Wolf has spent the last nine months pushing historic tax increases for Pennsylvania families. In fact, he’s tried and failed four times to win wide support for his massive tax hike proposals.

It’s little wonder. Families simply don’t want to pay more in taxes.  

And for good reason. Our state offers compelling evidence of the negative impact of over-taxation and over-spending. From 1991 to 2014, we’ve been at the bottom of the charts in key growth measures:

• 45th in job growth
• 47th in personal income growth
• 48th in population growth

Raising taxes will do nothing to improve our standing and will only hurt Pennsylvania families.

Instead of viewing taxpayers as endless ATMs awaiting the latest government withdrawal, the governor and lawmakers should be trimming their own budget—not grabbing even more of hardworking Pennsylvanians’ earnings.  

As budget talks continue this week, let lawmakers know how you would feel about sending even more of your hard-earned money to Harrisburg. Call or write them today!