Pa. gas tax, turnpike tolls go up in the new year

Associated Press

Will gasoline prices in Pennsylvania make a U-turn to start the new year?

The state's tax on gasoline wholesalers will go up by 9.8 cents per gallon Thursday, as mandated by Act 89, the transportation funding law the Legislature and Gov. Tom Corbett enacted last year. Three days after that, a 5 percent toll increase will take effect on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

How much, if any, of the gas tax increase will be reflected in pump prices is difficult to discern, but if dealers pass along the entire amount, it would cost a motorist who drives 12,000 miles in a 24 mpg vehicle an extra $49.

"Since the tax is imposed at the wholesale level there is no way to predict what will be passed to consumers," said Erin Waters-Trasatt, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. "Although there is one tax on gasoline statewide, prices vary widely, even within the same regions, because those in the business are working within the competitive marketplace."

The first increase in the tax, 9.5 cents per gallon, took effect Jan. 1 this year, and seemed to drive pump prices up by several cents at first, but the higher cost was more than erased as gasoline prices tumbled from a statewide average of about $3.50 in January to $2.59 as of Monday, pushed down by lower crude oil prices.