Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Republican lawmakers in the Erie County Legislature gathered Tuesday to introduce a resolution clocked in that will cap the county sales tax on gasoline. The measure would cap the tax at $2, which amounts to about $.12-to-$.14 being saved at the pump.
This is the third time Republican county lawmakers have proposed a cap on the gas tax in Erie County. The most recent attempt came back in early June, but Democratic lawmakers rejected the measure.
"We've already done this twice in the past, once successfully, once unsuccessfully. When it was done successfully during the Biden administration, we had no negative impact to the revenues of Erie County. No services were lost. It failed when we had a different president," said Legislator Chris Greene on Tuesday.
New York State authorizes counties and cities to levy a 3% sales and compensating use tax on various goods purchased within that city or county. Additionally, the state authorizes Erie County to levy an additional 1.75%.
"We are currently charging 4.75% on a high dollar amount, we all are affected right now with this high dollar amount. It includes your vehicle, or if it's a commercial truck with the diesel prices at over $6 a gallon. What we are doing is capping that at $2 per-gallon," Legislator Frank Todaro explained.
Legislator Lindsay Lorigo says to cap the gas tax at $2, as price of gasoline fluctuates, the county is not collecting more from taxpayers, thus providing direct relief to residents at the pump.
"Whether it is a doctor on the way to work or the person that's cleaning the building, they are paying the same amount at the pump. This is a real opportunity to provide relief that we are proposing," Lorigo said. "It has been rejected in the past, because the Democratic Majority caucus has said they're concerned it would punch a hole in the budget and be devastating for sales tax. We have budget monitoring reports from the county executive that says sales tax is ahead of pace to where we budgeted for the year. We know we can afford to provide this relief at the pump, and that's what we're proposing that we do today."
Lorigo knows this gas tax cap has worked before, and is very confident it will work again, if it is voted in favor of and implemented this December.
"We know that when we did this last time, it it had no impact on sales tax. Sales tax continued to increase, so that is why we have done this before. We know it did not cost taxpayers anything. We know it did not turn around and do anything detrimental to our budget. We know we can do this. The facts say we can," Lorigo said. "It's not a matter of opinion, or if the budget director or county executive want to say we can't afford it. It is simply not true. We have done this before and can do it again."
More from County Legislator @LindsayLorigo: https://t.co/mN6iMQioWw
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Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz released the following statement on the gas tax cap proposal with WBEN:
“Republicans are doing what they do best, doubling down on the pain they want to cause county residents while publicly ignoring the real cause of the problem. President Trump's war against Iran is the reason for skyrocketing fuel costs, costs which are strangling the county fleet’s fuel budgets along with those of county residents. The price of diesel has doubled since the start of Trump’s war, squeezing the budgets of the county truck fleet and private businesses alike, with the cost of gasoline also up for everyone. All of this is directly attributable to the war. However, being too weak and craven to criticize their leader and admit reality, supine Republicans would prefer that you believe a few cents in ‘gas tax savings’ will make a difference in the affordability tsunami engulfing America every day.
"The last time the county temporarily reduced the gas tax the savings were not passed on to the purchasers, but were pocketed by the retailers. It is no wonder a major local retailer has donated thousands of dollars to Republican candidates for the legislature this year and the Republican legislators are doing his bidding. This is the same party that created the Red-Green County Budget crisis with smoke, mirrors and bad budgeting, and now they want to do the same again just before voters go to the polls. This is a time for leadership, not shrill and empty posturing, but that’s all the Republicans have for Erie County.”
"We're here to help the residents of Erie County save money"
"We're here to help the residents of Erie County save money"
