Broome County Not Likely to Adopt Gas Tax Holiday

Despite the growing talk of giving motorists a tax break at the gas pump, it appears Broome County won't be moving to suspend the local fuel tax.

Lawmakers four years ago approved a six-month cap on the tax collected by the county on gasoline sales in the face of soaring prices.

Gas prices have jumped dramatically since the start of the Iran war several weeks ago. Prices at many Binghamton-area stations were below $3 a gallon in late February.

According to the AAA, the average local price for a gallon of regular gas now is $4.58. That's a 43 cents per gallon increase in the past month.

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar indicates another local gas tax holiday seems unlikely.

During a recent WNBF News interview, Garnar said "we did that in tandem with the state" in 2022 "and we did not see any noticeable effect." He said "the prices just continued to go up."

While the tax cap four years ago didn't appear to help consumers, Garnar said it created a bit of a revenue shortfall for the county.

He notes Broome County government "now is spending a lot more money on putting fuel into our own vehicles."

The county executive said "we've got to find a way to make that up somehow." He said no one could foresee a war that would result in much higher gas and diesel prices when this year's county budget was adopted by the legislature last November.

Some lawmakers in Washington have expressed support for a temporary suspension of the federal gasoline and diesel tax. There also has been discussion of a New York state fuel tax holiday in Albany in recent weeks.

LISTEN: Broome County Executive Jason Garnar discussed what happened the last time the local sales tax was capped for gasoline purchases.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or call (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @bobjoseph.bsky.social on Bluesky or @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.