New York to suspend its gas tax June 1. Will New Jersey drivers cross the border to fill up?

The days of New Jersey having the cheapest gas in the region are long gone.

News 12 Staff

May 31, 2022, 10:49 PM

Updated 959 days ago

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The days of New Jersey having the cheapest gas in the region are long gone. And now that New York has announced that it will suspend its tax on gasoline – New Jersey residents could be paying a lot more than their New York neighbors.
The average price for gasoline in New Jersey is currently at $4.75 per gallon. This is a little cheaper than the price for gas that News 12 crews saw just over the border at a gas station in New York state at $4.89 per gallon. But this will change come Wednesday.
New York will officially suspend its gas tax from Jun. 1 through the end of 2022. It is expected to save driers about 16 cents per gallon. New York legislators say that this will lead to $600 million in savings for New York residents. The legislation also allows individual New York counties to reduce their local gas taxes.
Rockland County – just a mile or two from New Jersey’s border – has capped the local sales tax at $2. This means that only the first two dollars of gas going into a vehicle’s tank will be taxed at the county level. This will run through February.
News 12 reached out to Gov. Phil Murphy’s office to see if there is a chance the Garden State might suspend the gas tax.
The Murphy administration pointed to a proposed state budget that prioritizes affordability for residents in other ways, including property tax relief programs and increased funding to schools.
The governor’s office responded in a statement, “While the state is currently reviewing options to provide relief for residents facing rising inflation, [Gov. Murphy] continues to support federal action to temporarily waive the gas tax.”