Prices at the pump go up Friday as Vermont gas tax rises

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) - While other states take a gas tax holiday, Vermont is raising its gas tax on Friday.

Every three months, state regulators set the gas tax. Starting Friday the total state and federal taxes on gasoline will be 55 cents per gallon. That’s an increase of more than 4 cents from last quarter and a 5.5-cent increase from a year ago.

“I feel for customers that are having to pay 4-and-a-half-cents more but that’s the system that we’ve built over the past decade... When this was put in place about 10 years ago in Vermont, the idea was as the price rises and people use less of it, the Transportation Fund still needs the money to bond for fixing roads and bridges and paving projects, so that was the logic behind putting in a fluctuating tax,” said Matt Cota of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association.

Cota says Vermonters shouldn’t worry about continuously rising fees, as it’s possible a cap may be imposed in the Legislature to limit fee increases when they return in January to begin the next session.

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