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.”