Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - On your way to-or-from work on the I-190, 290 or Route 33, you may have seen billboards saying, "Keep gas taxes where they are!" and asking, "Are Erie County gas taxes doubling?"
These billboards, paid for by Carl Hasselback, owner of multiple gas stations including Jim's Truck Plaza in Hamburg, are shining a light on the fact that at the end of this year, the county gas tax cap put in place by the Erie County Legislature will expire, which could nearly double or more than double the amount of county sales tax you pay for gas, contingent on the price for a gallon at the end of this year.
"I get two things out of this, Hasselback told WBEN on Tuesday. "Number one, the fact that they did it voluntarily is an admission that this is a bad tax. Number two, when I try to call people and ask them about extending it, the answer I get is we don't want to give up the revenue. In other words, we want to make it past the election and then let the tax go back to, like I said, let's say it's 20 cents today instead of 10. Maybe it'll be 30 because the price of gasoline will be up, but I don't know the answer to that. That's the issue coming from my perspective."
Essentially, the county capped the 4.75% sales tax amount so drivers would only pay tax on gasoline as if it cost $2 dollars a gallon. Any price above that wouldn't be taxed. This cap will end at the end of the year, meaning the tax would apply to the real price of gasoline a gallon, which currently averages out today at about $3.78 a gallon in Buffalo. This means you could pay about $1 more per trip in tax to the county.
4.75% sales tax on $2 (0.095 cents/gallon) for 10 Gallons = $0.95
4.75% sales tax on $3.78 (0.18 cents/gallon) for 10 Gallons = $1.79
"If we went up to the cost of gas being $4 a gallon, then it would be a true doubling, said County Legislator Chris Greene. "So right now, we're at a situation where it's not completely inaccurate, but it's a little overstating it. But overall, yes, if action is not taken by the legislature, before the end of the year, there will be an increase in gas prices."
Hasselback makes a point in saying that gas is already heavily taxed and hopes that if the county can't just have a flat sales tax for gas, at least extend the tax cap.
"I pay or collect, I think seven taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel between the federal government and the state. Everyone of them is a flat tax. And by flat I mean like 10 cents a gallon, eight cents a gallon, whatever it may be. The only one that varies or is a percentage is the county tax on gasoline."
Legislator Greene says there has been discussion amongst his fellow Republican legislators on how to proceed with the gas tax going forward. The legislature has already submitted a budget for 2024, but it hasn't been approved yet, an extension of the gas tax cap is not out of the question.
"I do believe that it's one of those items that doesn't have to necessarily be part of the budget, and the reason I say that is because it wasn't part of the budget when we were doing it in November, December of 2022, when we were setting the 2023 budget. This wasn't part of the budget process. We did it separately this February for June to December. It can be done separately from the budget. I do think that we've been having discussions about that in my caucus and there seems to be an appetite to extend it. We were hoping that there would be a reduction in the in the prices of gas at some point, but, this is the only way that we can provide the relief."
Chris Greene acknowledges and addresses that Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick said in February the county could potentially lose out on about $8 million of revenue by implementing the gas cap tax this year. However, Erie County has had recorded surpluses in funds from taxing Erie County residents.
"Over the last couple of years, we've had record surpluses, meaning we've overtaxed Erie County residents, last year was $96 million, the year before that $175 million. All of these are because we are bringing more sales tax due to a lawsuit filed in South Dakota against Wayfair to collect sales tax. So now everything people buy online, we're collecting sales tax revenue. The county executive has stated that he can't even spend the money fast enough.
So I think the only logical step would be to provide tax relief. We're going to do that this year. It's not just a shell game about the the tax rates going down. The actual tax levy in Erie County for 2024 will be less than 2023 and I think this is one more way to chip into that $100 million dollars that we are overtaxing residents to look at providing them relief at the pump. I would like to see us provide relief on clothing and other, you know, other essential items that people have to buy."
The Erie County Legislature will have a budget meeting discussion on Nov. 14.