Erie County is weighing the potential to cap the sales tax on gasoline and diesel fuel. But the practical value of such a move is drawing heavy concern, depending on what the county decides.
A flat sales tax of 10 cents per gallon would benefit consumers more than the revenue Erie County could gain, Jim’s Travel Plaza owner Carl Hasselback said.
“The greatest impact is on the people with the (least) amount of money, because nobody survives in this county without a car, and nobody surviving without buying gas," he said. "And if I make half a million dollars a year, what's $100 a tankful, $200 a tankful? If I make $25,000 a year, it's the beginning and end of my life.”
Sales tax usually is factored into an item’s price when a consumer makes their purchase. But with gasoline it is added when companies buy it wholesale, and they adjust the final price accordingly.
Even when there’s been an exemption period, drivers haven’t seen the savings reflected at the pump, Erie County Director of Budget and Management Mark Cornell said.
“What we should be doing today, is we should be taking the benefit of hindsight into effect. This is not a, you know, a methodology," he said. "This is not theoretical. We have hindsight. We did this, and there was no discernible impact to local consumers.”
Cornell doesn’t think customers would see the benefits because the additional profits would be used by companies to account for their other expenses.
Hasselback, testifying before the Legislature Thursday, contends that he would keep a certain amount of money to keep making a profit, but competition would naturally drive the price back down.
