Pump prices drop on Wednesday

                                                                                 

Kevan Abrahams

If you need to fill up your tank, you might wait until Wednesday, when state and county sales tax cuts are supposed to take effect.

That means the price of regular gasoline, which now averages $4.95 a gallon, could be dropped to an average $4.67 a gallon in two days.

That would be a cut of 20 cents a gallon in state sales tax and a reduction of about 8 cents per gallon in Nassau sales tax.

The sales tax reductions last through the end of the year.

Nassau Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) submitted a proposed op-ed to the media on Friday in an effort to remind drivers of the coming cut on gasoline sales taxes.

He also noted that county Democrats first pressed for Nassau to cut its gasoline sales tax in early March after county finance officials reported a record $426 million surplus in sales tax collections at the end of 2021.

Democrats proposed suspending the sales tax on all sales above $2 a gallon and extend the cut through March.

After Abrahams' caucus floated its proposal, Democratic lawmakers in Albany agreed to cut 20 cents from the state's 33-cent per gallon sales tax, from June 1 through Dec. 31.

Nassau Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman and the Republican-controlled legislature then agreed to drop Nassau's gas tax to all sales above $3 gallon through Dec.31.

Abrahams said if county Republicans had agreed to the Democrat's steeper cut, drivers would see a 32-cent drop in the pump price on Wednesday.

"We remain disappointed, however, that County Executive Blakeman has thus far failed to deliver the maximum amount of relief allowable under state law," Abrahams wrote.

He also warned that gasoline stations that do not offer the lower prices can be prosecuted for price gouging.

See his op-ed here: