Think taxes are too high in West Virginia? Join the club.

A recent poll by Charleston-based RMS Strategies shows that 59 percent of West Virginians feel their taxes are too high. About 33 percent feel their taxes are about right. And only 2 percent of residents think taxes in the state are too low.

RMS conducted the poll of 404 West Virginians who are registered voters during the week of Aug. 8. The results were released this week. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

West Virginia University economist Tom Witt said he isn't surprised that people in the state think their taxes are too high. People always complain about taxes, regardless of where they live.

"The unfortunate thing about these surveys is they never ask what government service people want cut if taxes are cut," he said.

Residents said there are some taxes they would like to get rid of:

• 76 percent said eliminating the gasoline tax would have a positive impact on the state's economy. Fifteen percent said it would have a negative impact.
• 75 percent supported getting rid of the sales tax on food. Fourteen percent said it would hurt the state.
• 70 percent said cutting the car personal property tax would help. Thirteen percent said it would have a negative impact.

When asked to rank West Virginia's spending, residents gave the state a thumbs down. Nearly half of the residents said the state spends too much money. Only 13 percent said it doesn't spend enough.

Witt said the perception that state government spends too much may be distorted. That's because in West Virginia the state is responsible for a lot of things local governments would be responsible for elsewhere.

"Yes, you can say state government spends too much, but on other hand local government spends too little," he said, adding, "Most people don't know what the state pays, or the state budget, or even their local budget."

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