SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Gas prices are rising and the average person is paying $3.80 a gallon according to AAA. As the end of November rolls around, some of you in Central New York could be paying more.
Since June 1, Onondaga County would only collect taxes up to three dollars for every gallon sold, which amounted to about 12 cents a gallon. However, the gas tax cap is set to expire on November 30.
The county can either let it expire or renew it but renewing it with the state is a process.
The Onondaga County Legislature Chairman, Jim Rowley, says the county would have had to already let the state know, for it to continue without any interruption. He says he doesn’t know if this is something the legislature can take up on its own or if the County Executive’s Office has to take the lead.
Those are conversations that Rowley is waiting to have and he says they also need to evaluate how it worked.
“Bear with us. We’re going to try to, we want to assess how it worked through November. We want to get some information into the executive as to how much sales tax we lost, theoretically lost, and assess things at that point.”
Jim Rowley, Onondaga County Legislature Chairman
NewsChannel 9 also reached out to Ryan McMahon’s office for comment and the communications director said the following:
“The County Executive’s Office is evaluating the effects of the tax cap on county finances to ensure we continue to be fiscally responsible. We will review potential next steps with legislators in the coming days.”
Ryan McMahon’s Office
Rowley says if legislators decided to continue with the gas tax cap, it likely wouldn’t take effect until next year after it expires at the end of this month.
