Motorists in Erie County will soon enjoy some temporary savings at the gas pump. County legislators on Thursday voted unanimously to approve a temporary sales tax cap of two dollars on gas purchases.
The temporary cap takes effect June 1 and will continue through February 2023.
“We had a good conversation with the administration last week. They came to us and they wanted to cap the sales tax at $3. We said that $2 is the more reasonable number. Nobody anticipated that gas prices were going to be so high over $2 back in 2021 when the budget was being drafted, so there's no effect on the budget,” said Legislature Minority Leader Joseph Lorigo.
The county sales tax cap will amount to an estimated savings of 11 cents per gallon, said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
“It's quite apparent that we may be headed in a recessionary period. If that's the case, people will see a savings but it does have to be temporary, so we don't put ourselves in a difficult situation in the future,” he said. “If we are having shortages and revenues elsewhere, the county’s in a strong enough position to do this.”
The county executive says officials will keep an eye on retailers to ensure consumers truly save on their purchases. Poloncarz explains that the sales tax collected by the county does not come at the pump, but when the retailer buys the supply from its wholesaler. The concern is making sure the retailers don’t pocket the difference.
“We're going to have our Office of Consumer Protection out there with the Weights and Measures and the Attorney General's Office to ensure that the savings are actually passed on to consumers,” he said.
This limited-time cap comes in addition to the state’s temporary 16-cents-per-gallon relief, which also takes effect June 1 and runs through Dec. 31.
“Finally, we know that that money is going to go back into the economy,” Lorigpo said. “People aren't taking $1.20 here and $1.20 there and throwing it into their 401Ks. It's going to get spent on something else, whether it's coffee, groceries, dinner out something like that, so that sales tax revenue will still be generated.”
