Gov. Mark Sanford used his State of the State speech to renew his call for lower personal income taxes, calling the state’s rate the highest in the Southeast.

But economists and federal data say it just isn’t so.

Sanford on Wednesday told members of the General Assembly that his No. 1 legislative priority this year will be to lower the state’s top personal income tax rate from 7 percent to 5.9 percent.

Cutting the tax rate, he said, will stimulate job growth in South Carolina. The state has had job losses in each of the past three years, the longest string of losses since the Great Depression.

“Our income tax is effectively the highest income tax rate in the entire Southeast, and that’s rough on families, it’s rough on retirees and it’s rough on working folks,” he said during his speech.

Clemson economist Holley Ulbrich and USC economist Doug Woodward, who have studied the state’s tax system extensively, said South Carolinians pay close to the U.S. average among states with income taxes.

Consider this:

• North Carolina has a higher tax rate than South Carolina. While other states in the region have either no income taxes or rates below the South Carolina top rate, North Carolina’s top tax rate remains at 8.25 percent and will stay there until at least 2006.

• South Carolinians pay less in state income taxes, even after adjusting for their lower incomes, according to Census Bureau data examined by The State.

South Carolina collected an average of $475 for every man, woman and child in 2002, or 1.9 percent of per capita income. That tax burden ranks the state 35th among the 43 states that levy an income tax. The U.S. average is 2.1 percent.

• South Carolinians pay less than residents in most other states when all forms of state and local taxes are combined, according to a study published last summer by USC economists. South Carolinians paid a slightly higher portion of their income in state taxes, but significantly less in local taxes.

Woodward, one of the study’s authors, said states that have given up the income tax have had to rely more heavily on sales taxes, sometimes with damaging results.

“I’d like to receive evidence that it (cutting state income taxes) would spur economic growth,” he said. “I’ve never seen that income taxes are significant deterrent to investment.”

The governor’s office cites a study by The Beacon Hill Institute that says cuts to state income taxes will aid in growing jobs.

Will Folks, the governor’s spokesman, said reducing income tax rates will help most families and businesses.

“The numbers clearly demonstrate income tax revenue is directly tied to job growth and business development,” Folks said.

S.C. Reps. Ralph Davenport and Doug Smith introduced a bill Jan. 14 to cut the income tax rates to a range of 1.5 percent to 6 percent. The current range is 2.5 percent to 7 percent.

The Spartanburg Republicans’ bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Reach Roberts at (803) 771-8595 or mcroberts@thestate.com. Reach DuPlessis at (803) 771-8305 or jduplessis@thestate.com.