Andrew Wilkins / Filling up his semi-truck to move an asphalt tank, Lee Richards says his company’s rates are the same as last year even with the increase in gas prices.On Friday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation that will suspend the state’s gas tax collection until the end of May. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee passed on a similar idea last week.
Drivers at gas stations in both Georgia and Tennessee were concerned about high fuel prices Monday, but they had different strategies for how they were coping – and what they think should be done to remedy the problem.
Earlier in the month, two Democratic Tennessee lawmakers representing Nashville urged Lee to suspend the state’s gas tax, but last week WBIR News 10 reported that he said there were no definitive plans to issue such an executive order. Lee blamed high gas prices on President Joe Biden’s administration not pursuing an energy independence policy, adding he’s looking for other tax-lowering proposals.
There’s no set day Georgians will see relief at the pump thanks to the recently-enacted legislation because gas stations are still selling fuel that was taxed earlier at the wholesale level. Georgia’s state tax is 29.1 cents per gallon, and the federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. Tennessee collects 27.4 cents per gallon in state taxes.
(READ MORE: Kemp signs law suspending Georgia gas taxes through May)
While gas prices are still higher than usual, the price has dropped 10.2 cents per gallon in Chattanooga and 9 cents per gallon nationally since last week, according to GasBuddy, a gas price tracking website. In Georgia, the price of gas per gallon dropped 17.5 cents per gallon since last week – with Dade and Catoosa counties having some of the cheapest gas in the state, averaging from $3.807 to $4.035 per gallon.
In a video message released Saturday, Kemp said Georgia lawmakers had room in the budget to suspend the state tax because they budgeted well through the pandemic and have kept government small and efficient.
Kemp said that since March of 2021, the price of gas has risen by 59%, blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “despicable” actions and Washington policies and politics that have fueled inflation and hamstrung domestic energy production.
“And researchers are now estimating that the average American household could spend an average of $2,000 more per year because of increased fuel costs and sky-high inflation,” Kemp said in the video.
Andrew Wilkins / Filling up his semi-truck to move an asphalt tank, Lee Richards says his company’s rates are the same as last year even with the increase in gas prices.While filling up his semi-truck at a gas station on Rossville Boulevard in Chattanooga, Lee Richards said he hasn’t been following lawmakers’ attempts to lower prices because he’s lost faith in elected officials keeping their promises. A resident of Alabama who works at Prominent Transport, Richards said he transports oversized equipment for a living, and the asphalt tank he was moving Monday would take $1,000 a day in fuel to move – not including the escort vehicle required for the job.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga motorists paying highest gas prices since 2008)
“Just because the price of fuel goes up, nothing else follows that. And it’s went up fast. So, really, nothing’s had time to acclimate to that,” Richards said. “Our rates are not going up, we’re still getting the same rates we were getting a year ago.”
At a gas station on Brainerd Road in Chattanooga, Chris Johnson had just finished putting $2 of gas in his Jeep. Because of high gas prices, he said he’s driving less, catching the bus, “improvising” and carpooling.
“I think the United States should stay out of other folks’ business and mind their own business. They’re putting too much money and stuff in other environments instead of taking care of their own.” Johnson said when discussing solutions to the problem.
Johnson said he doesn’t think politicians can do much to affect oil prices, but they can do more to help people. He said times have been tough because he’s a middle class person living off a government check.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga gas prices hit new record high but may have hit a peak – at least for now)
Leslie Mullins, a resident of Ringgold, said he keeps an eye on what gas prices are the cheapest in Northwest Georgia. He said he was pleased Georgia suspended the state gas tax.
He said he only gets a little bit of gas at a time because a full tank is too big of a hit to his budget.
“If I wait for that thing to get on empty, it’s like anywhere from $80 to eighty-something dollars to fill it up,” Mullins said.
Like many people, Rhonda Carroll’s first comment is to say gas prices are too high. Speaking in the parking lot of a gas station north of Fort Oglethorpe, she said the best solution is for the United States to build the Keystone Pipeline.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @tweetatwilkins.