SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The gas tax in California is going up 2 cents a gallon starting Wednesday, bringing the total tax to more than 63 cents per gallon.
But the good news is drivers in San Diego County and across the state may not feel the effect -- at least right away.
Gas prices have been steadily dropping over the past few weeks from the near record-setting high of $6 a gallon that many Californians were paying a month ago.
As the war with Iran and the oil market cools down, we can expect that trend to continue. But now, the gas tax hike, which brings the tax to the highest rate in the country, is coming into play.
And while experts with GasBuddy said the hike will increase prices at the pump, it's not going to shoot up overnight.
“Although in the current climate of a decline in prices, consumers probably will not see an increase at the pump, but rather prices may, may decrease more slowly. So … that is just coincidental because of the timing; gas prices have declined nationally for seven straight weeks," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
The gas tax went into effect in 2017 and was meant to support road maintenance as well as infrastructure projects around California.
But a local rideshare driver and head of a nonprofit to advocate for those drivers told ABC 10News these high gas prices and this tax are forcing them to drive longer hours all to make up the cost of filling up their tanks.
“Every single day a driver starts, they're pretty much negative, you know, $60 negative, so they have to make at least $200 to $300, which it means longer hours between 12 to 14 hours a day of work,” Luis Arias, president and founder of San Diego Drivers United, said. “This will affect the community, the passengers, not just the drivers, because at the end of the day passengers will have to pay more.”
GasBuddy told ABC 10News there's another reason we might not see prices jump at gas stations. That’s because, given the slow decline in oil prices, the margin of what a station can make can give them more ability to absorb the tax increase without raising prices.
