Tom Wolf

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf wants a half-point increase in the state’s personal income tax and a new extraction tax on natural gas drilling to solve the state’s 3-month-old budget impasse, according to an administration document.

Basic details of the proposal, which Wolf planned to formally submit later today, includes cuts for seniors and disabled people in their property taxes that fund public schools.

The administration said the new money will close the deficit and add about $400 million annually for basic education.

Republican leaders have offered to hold a vote Wednesday as a way to demonstrate that the governor’s proposal for higher taxes lacks sufficient support in the Legislature where Wolf’s Democratic allies are in the minority in both chambers.

The state income tax rate would increase from 3.07 to 3.57 percent, while the natural gas drilling tax would be 3.5 percent, plus 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet. The state’s existing impact fee on gas drilling, which is targeted to areas where the activity occurs, would be untouched.

The administration said the tax package would raise more than $1.4 billion for the fiscal year that started July 1, and more than $2.4 billion next year.

Wolf decided not to propose any increase in Pennsylvania sales tax rate, currently 6 percent in much of the state.