Property tax increase may aid Pennsylvania libraries.(Updates)(Brief Article)

A legislative proposal to increase Pennsylvania state income taxes--from 2.8% to as much as 2.99%--may avert possible statewide library service reductions and closures. Senate leaders of both parties met in closed-door negotiations December 8 to discuss details of a proposed agreement that could end a five-month budget impasse.

"The thing pushing us here is the need to fund public education and putting back some monies in areas where there have been significant cuts in services," Sen. Jack Wagner (D-Beechview) said in the December 9 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Although few agencies would be funded at the level they received last year, the proposed agreement …