At the start of this month, the US average price for gas was $4.67 per gallon while the New York average was $4.93 per gallon. The state responded by suspending the 16% tax applied to every gallon of gas in order to ease the burden on consumers.
Some counties in New York have gone a step further, including Rockland County, which has capped the local gas tax collection. That means Rockland cities such as New City have tax rates capped at $2. Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk have made similar moves and capped their tax collection at $3 per gallon. Banner printing can be used to display gas prices and tax freezes.
According to officials, the decision to cap the tax rates was due to the fact that nobody expected people to be paying close to $5 per gallon for gas when the budgets were being drawn up. The gas rate was $2 per gallon when the budget was made, so Rockland County executives decided that the tax rate should stay at that limit.
George Latimer, Westchester’s County Executive, said:
"We hope that benefit will accrue to the individual user. We don't know if it will, because it's really up to the oil companies.”
Drivers who spoke to Eyewitness News have expressed their relief over the tax cuts.