Staff and wire reports
RALEIGH ó North Carolina’s gasoline tax is now at the highest level allowed by state law.
As of Jan. 1, motorists are paying 30.15 cents per gallon to the state.
The tax went up 0.2 cent per gallon as a portion of the tax is tied to rising and falling wholesale fuel prices. The tax would have gone even higher if state lawmakers and Gov. Mike Easley had not agreed last year to cap the tax.
The gas tax is used for road improvements and transportation needs.
The 30.15 cents per gallon includes 29.9 cents in gasoline taxes and a 0.25-cent fuel inspection fee.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Graham of Salisbury issued a statement Thursday calling for a decrease in the fuel tax.
“Our state government has failed the taxpayer,” Graham said. “We pay one of the highest gas taxes in the nation, yet our roads are ranked among the worst. We pay more taxes than any state in the Southeast, yet we have the most congested roads.”
Graham said that if the cap had not been in place, the N.C. Department of Revenue would have set the new tax rate at 33.68 cents, an increase of 3.53 cents.
Currently, North Carolina has the second-highest gas tax in the Southeast, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Before the cap was approved, North Carolina had the highest gas tax in the Southeast.