With the additional federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, the total gas tax per gallon amounts to 62.9 cents in Washington.
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In spite of gas prices going down all over the United States, Washington residents might still have to pay more to fill up their tanks.
“Nobody likes to have a tax increase”, commented senator Curtis King (R-Wash.) in a recent statement.
While Washington has high taxes on gas and the state average is around $3.18 a gallon, compared to the $2.67 national average, prices in the state are around 74 cents cheaper than a year ago.
There is actually a simple explanation to the increase in price, as it is part of a plan that the Legislature approved of and the governor signed at the beginning of the summer.
The extra 7-cents a gallon state lawmakers added to the gas tax will help pay for transportation projects around the state…including a duportail street bridge over the yakima river in richland and a lewis street overpass near downtown pasco, just to name a few. “But we haven’t been as diligent on maintenance and preservation as we’ve needed to be”, Republican Sen. We need to invest in that to get caught up. Bike paths, walkways and public transit is expected to receive around $1 billion from the package.
While the projects are estimated to span 16 years, according to Judy Clibborn, the chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, the benefits will be visible and appreciated.
Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Utah all increased their taxes, while two other states – Kentucky and North Carolina – altered the structure of their gas taxes in order to limit decreasing revenues. With the even more national smoke income tax of 18.four penny per quart, the full fuel fee per 4 quarts involves 62.nine penny in Washington.
Seattle news station KIRO spoke with a local gas station owner to find out exactly what will happen to the prices at the pump.
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Because the tax is paid by fuel wholesalers, not added directly to prices at the pump, it’s uncertain how much of an increase drivers will see. Some stations do not have the luxury of delaying the increase and the 7 cent increase my go into effect immediately.
