Majority supports state income tax: poll

The poll by Middle Tennessee State University found 59 percent support the measure, down from 62 percent in a MTSU poll last fall but still within the poll’s 4 percent margin of error.

The poll is based on telephone interviews of 600 or more Tennessee adults Feb. 16-28 and is the latest of at least four polls on the topic conducted by the university.

Support for a state income tax paired with sales tax cuts has been steady since the General Assembly raised the sales tax rate in 2002, the polls show.

The latest poll shows uniform support across every demographic variable measured, including education, income, gender, race, political orientation and voting habits. In previous polls, support had been higher among groups including the less educated and Tennesseans earning less than $50,000 a year, especially African-Americans.

“It appears that the last sales tax increase crossed some sort of line for most Tennesseans” said Ken Blake, associate director of the MTSU poll. “The measure was so unpopular that a state income tax, when considered alongside it, started looking comparably more desirable for most state residents.”

Faced with a budget shortfall that led to a three-day partial government shutdown, state lawmakers in 2002 scrapped efforts to overhaul the tax system and raised the state’s general sales tax rate to 7 percent. Combined with county and city add-ons, the maximum rate is 9.75 percent — among the highest in the nation.

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On the Net:

MTSU poll data: www.mtsusurveygroup.org