Your Letters: Tuesday

Will it balance the budget?

Gov. Ed Rendell’s personal income tax increase to balance the budget seems OK to me — if the increase will balance the state budget.

The current tax rate is 3.07 percent. A 16 percent increase would mean a PIT rate of 3.56 percent.

Retirees on Social Security and other retirement income with some additional interest and dividend income do not pay PIT. A family of four does not pay PIT if their taxable income is less than $32,000. See the tables on page 36, PA-40IN 2008.

Filers with a state taxable income of $40,000 would pay an increased amount of $196 per year, which is about 54 cents per day. This hardly seems burdensome.

Ken Criste State College

Lobby for your state parks

I was disappointed to see that the Pennsylvania Senate passed a proposed state budget that is expected to force more than 35 state parks to close.

This will strike close to home, as Penn Roosevelt Park, McCalls Dam Park, Poe Paddy Park and Poe Valley Park in Centre County are on the list of parks that state officials are saying are most likely to close.

As local residents know, these parks are a great resource for hiking, picnicking and other recreational activities. We should be working to improve the resources offered by these parks, not putting it on the chopping block to shut them down.

Pennsylvania’s park system is part of what makes the state such a great place. We have an obligation to protect these parks for now and for future generations of Pennsylvanians to enjoy.

I hope concerned citizens who care about these parks will call their state senators and voice disappointment with their short-sighted budget proposal and call on their state representatives to stop this legislation in the House.

David Masur Philadelphia

The writer is director of Penn Environment, www.pennenvironment.org.

Editor’s note: The following comments regarding the state budget were posted on line at CentreDaily.com.

“Taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society — the hoi polloi and other uncivilized types can’t see past their own noses. Whenever there is a budget shortfall, they always want to cut funding to areas that provide services to the public. People who don’t read won’t miss libraries — they’ll still be able to get their dose of misinformation from their favorite talk-radio stations. People who don’t think won’t miss public TV programs — but they’re more than happy to pay for cable ...”

— Aardvaark

“The governor and the legislature have all year to work on and pass a budget. Every year since Gov. Ed Rendell has been in office, the budget has been late. They have a job to do, and they are NOT doing their job. It is not right that hard-working, law-abiding citizens are going to go without paychecks, while the governor pays inmates. Rendell expects state workers to go to work without a pay check, yet expects them to work. How is that to happen with no money for gas, day care and whatever else is needed to facilitate getting to work and back? Nobody can even predict how long this will take. ...”