BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts voters have rejected a call to eliminate the state's income tax.

The measure would have cut the 5.3 percent tax rate in half in January, and then killed it completely in January 2010.

Supporters had argued that the best way to cut government waste and overspending was to cut tax revenues by 40 percent or about $12.5 billion. They said it would have saved the average taxpayer about $3,700.

But critics, including virtually every elected official in the state, said the cuts would cripple state services, drive up property taxes, harm the state's credit rating and scare away business.

Lawmakers would have had the option of repealing or amending the measure.