We’re paying more for gas in North Carolina because of a big tax increase that took effect July 1. Or are we?

The change added 2.5 cents to the tax on each gallon of gas and diesel fuel. That’s 25 cents more for a 10-gallon fill-up.

But when you look around the country and in nearby states where taxes stayed the same, you might think North Carolina’s gas tax went down – not up. Prices elsewhere have risen faster than ours, and North Carolina’s gas tax hike feels strangely painless.

So far. ... [MORE]

If you plan to drive somewhere this weekend, you might want to buy your gas Thursday.

Triangle gas prices have fallen 40 cents in the past six weeks, and that’s one reason why the AAA Carolinas motor club predicts a busy holiday travel weekend.

But those lower prices will surely click a few pennies higher before the weekend actually arrives – thanks to a tax hike scheduled to hit the pumps Friday.

North Carolina’s per-gallon tax on gas and diesel fuel will rise from an all-time high 32.5 cents through Thursday to an all-time even-higher 35 cents starting Friday, the first day of July. ... [MORE]

If you have a learner’s permit now and you aim to get your provisional license this fall, you’d better plan to spend a lot of your summer driving around with Mom or Dad in the front seat.

Meanwhile, drivers old and young should get ready for a 2.5-cent tax increase, starting July 1, on every gallon of gas and diesel fuel.

Record-high gas taxes and tougher rules for the graduated driver’s license program are the biggest changes that North Carolina drivers will see as a result of action – and inaction – in the Republican-led General Assembly session that adjourned last week. [6/21/11 update: See today's Road Worrier column with reader comments.]

For now ... [MORE]

A cluster of historically controversial transportation measures face quick action in the legislature today or tomorrow, including:

* A ban on hand-held cell phone use for commercial truckers;
* Exemptions from highway weight limits in some circumstances for some trucks hauling concrete and other goods; and
* An order blocking state Department of Transportation plans to build raised center medians on parts of three roads where some residents or businesses have complained: Falls of Neuse Road in North Raleigh, U.S. 70 in Kinston, and U.S. 64 in Asheboro.

[Correction 1:15pm Wednesday: The original post said the legislative action items also included a cap on the state gas tax. That was an error, based on erroneous information published on the General Assembly's website. There is no proposal on the legislative calendar today regarding the gas tax.]

... [MORE]

In 2007 when gas prices were climbing this high, this fast, the General Assembly put a cap on the state tax paid on every gallon, to stop it from rising above 29.9 cents.  Then in 2009 this tax ceiling was converted to a floor, a tax minimum -- and since then the tax rate has risen to 32.5 cents.

Now there's legislation to convert the current rate to a ceiling again, to keep the tax from rising further. Republican Reps. Pat McElraft of Emerald Isle, Mike Stone of Sanford, Ric Killian of Charlotte and Mike Hager of Rutherfordton introduced House Bill 399 this week.

It would put a 15-cent cap on the variable portion of the tax rate, which is readjusted every six months as a percentage of the changing wholesale gas price. ... [MORE]

Market forces will push North Carolina's record-high gas tax even higher in July --  unless political forces decide otherwise. 

Democrats were in charge four years ago when drivers were unhappy about rising gas taxes, so they capped the tax for two years at 29.9 cents a gallon.  That ceiling was converted to a legislative floor in 2009, and our inflation-adjusting tax has risen since then to an all-time high of 32.5 cents.

The General Assembly’s new Republican leaders seem likely to put a lid on it again.

“They have not specifically talked about this in caucus,” says Ray Martin, press secretary for Republican Sen. Phil Berger, the Senate president pro tem. “But it’s likely they’d want to look at capping any increase in the tax.” ... [MORE]

The state Department of Transportation’s proposed budget shows that the Perdue administration is counting on the Republican-led legislature to allow gas taxes to keep rising this year.  But without lifting a finger, Republicans have the power to let gas tax rates fall sharply instead.

[2/18/11 correction:  Legislative action would be required to prevent gas tax rates from rising again in July. See below.]

The variable tax rate fluctuates as a portion of the average wholesale gas price, and in January it climbed to a record high level of 32.5 cents a gallon.  Perdue’s budget, released today (see below), projects an increase of another penny a gallon, to generate record-high gas tax collections of $1.74 billion in 2011-12.

[2/18/11 correction:  That assumes the Republican-led legislature will allow the tax to keep rising. A GOP legislative spokesman says that seems unlikely.] ... [MORE]

So, as the Road Worrier reported today in a column clogged (sorry!) with numbers, North Carolina drivers now pay a record 51.15 cents in state and federal taxes on every gallon of gas.

One reader wonders: How is the rest of the money divvied up?  Here’s an online comment from PhantomLord:

$7.25 on a 15 gallon tank in taxes.  I would guess this dwarfs what the evil Big Oil companies make on it.

Setting aside questions of good and evil, the answer to PhantomLord is: No, the oil companies get a lot more than the government gets when we buy gas. ... [MORE]

For three years, 29.9 cents was North Carolina's gas tax ceiling. Then in 2009 it became our gas tax floor.

Now the state gas tax has climbed to 32.5 cents a gallon, an all-time high. We pay about $7.25 in state and federal taxes on every 15-gallon tankful.

The General Assembly, with its new Republican majority, will have to revisit the issue of ceilings and floors this spring. 

“My inclination would be to restore the cap,” pushing the tax back to 29.9 cents, said Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Republican who will be the new Senate leader.

“Lord knows, individuals are having enough trouble covering their personal obligations as it is, and for the state to raise taxes on [gas] is just compounding problems for individuals.”

More Tuesday in the Road Worrier. [1/4/11 update: see today's column with reader comments.]

Nobody was crazy about resorting to toll-collection to build the Triangle Expressway, U.S. Rep. David Price said at Wednesday's ground-breaking ceremony (see story with dozens of reader comments).

But where else will we get the money to build new bridges and expressways?

The federal Highway Trust Fund, fueled mostly with a federal gas tax that has not been increased since 1992, is running on fumes. Congress recently approved an $8 billion bailout to make sure North Carolina and other states would get the federal road dollars promised for this fall.

“We have in the past relied on one source of revenue almost exclusively for our highway building, namely the gas tax revenue,” Price said. “It has funded highway construction, safety programs and a lot of other thngs for many, many years. …

“Now, that’s not even an option. Now the gas tax revenues simply aren’t going to do the job.”

You know the story. Our cars aren't guzzling so much gas these days, so we're paying fewer gas tax pennies per mile. ...