New gas taxes arrive just as Hawaii prices jump - Washington Business Journal:

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The state Legislature let expirew a tax exemption on gas sales that will add almost 10 centw to a gallon startingJuly 1. The net gain for the stater general fund isabout $40 million annually. Also going into effecr July 1 — unless Gov. Linda Lingle vetoes it sometime over the nextmonth — is a $1.045 surcharge, up from five cents, on everyt barrel of petroleum sold in the The tax revenue is supposes to help pay for development of clean-energyy systems, but some will also make its way into the generap fund. It will add aboutg two cents to a gallonof gas. Whils the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded has jumpes 46 cents a gallon over the past two monthdsto $2.
91, that’s still a long way from the $4.59 recorded July 31, 2008. Gas dealers, among the firsf to feel any price pinch, are alreadt doing the math on thenew “It will easily add 15 cents per gallon,” said Al president of , which has 14 Shell and Tesoroi stations on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big “That’s huge when you factor in everythinbg else. If gas prices keep going up it could be 45 cents over the Thathurts dealers.” Oahu residents got a break when the recentlyh decided not to raise the county’s fuel tax threde cents to 19.5 cents a gallon. And then ther e are the less-obvious charges that are driven by fuel costa and thenew taxes.
will raiser its fuel surcharge to 28 percent onJuly 5. That’x far less than the 38.25 percen t it charged last July but up significantly from the 15 percenyt Matson charged by the end ofNovember 2008. Other shippinbg companies will likelyfollow suit. This week, raised rates, its firstf adjustment since 2001. The increasre will add between $4 and $8 to the average residential gas bill for half ofthe company’s 70,000 And will raise its fuel-adjustment fee this month from 18.15 cente per kilowatt hour to It’s HECO’s first surcharge hike since September when it charged 32.5 cents.
HECO spokesmam Peter Rosegg said the surcharge reflectsw the changes infuel costs, something the compan y passes directly on to consumers. Though it burns betweemn 15 million and 17 milliobn barrels of oil for electricithy eachyear (roughly one-third of the tota number of barrels imported to the Islands), Rosegf said the barrel tax impacg will be negligible and that HECO welcomes the state’sz investment in clean-energy development. “Ic oil goes back up to $140 a then you pay attention,” he Small businessmen like Doug Sugidono, who runs in are already paying attention. “I have had to diversify by amping up my tire said Sugidono.
And anothefr product sold by Sugidono will get a tax increase July 1 when the cigarettr tax goes from 10 cents to 13 centzsa pack. It risez to 14 cents in 2010 and to 15 centsin 2011. “Thegy can’t help it — people still have to smoke,” said Sugidono.