HARRISBURG -- A five-hour public hearing on tax reform yesterday ended with little consensus but plenty of room for more discussion.

The Senate Committee on Legislation heard from bankers, insurance executives, nonprofit organizations, school board members and others. Committee Chairman Noah W. Wenger, R-Lancaster, wants to hear more.

He expects to schedule another public hearing in a week or two so more people have a chance to comment on a plan that would reduce school property taxes while broadening the sales tax.

The sales tax would include currently untaxed items such as advertising services, campground fees, laundry services, candy, management consulting, concert tickets and gym memberships.

The bill also would increase the personal income tax rate to 3.29 percent, from 3.07 percent.

The bill also would provide for an expansion in rebate programs for homeowners and renters. The income limit would be increased to $25,000, from $15,000, and the average rebate would increase to $530, from $380.

Property taxes would be reduced by at least 40 percent.

The Senate, House and Gov. Ed Rendell's office are striving to develop a plan to reduce property taxes that all three groups can rally around. Right now, they all have different versions but hope to reach a consensus by the end of the month.

Speakers yesterday largely opposed the plan, though one taxpayers' group likes its reliance on a statewide tax instead of local ones.

"Local taxes are a poor way to fund the bulk of school costs," said Cheryl Zaleski, director of communications for the Coatesville Taxpayers Alliance. Business leaders, meanwhile, testified that an expanded sales tax would make Pennsylvania businesses less competitive, cause them to lose business and force them to move to states with lower taxes.

"We would not be able to pass this tax [on management services] on to our customers, and we would be at a disadvantage to our competition based in other states and countries," testified J. Wilson Hershey, president of Lancaster Laboratories Inc., a pharmaceutical company in Lancaster County that employs 1,250 Pennsylvanians.