A 2016 law that locked in a specific amount of gas tax revenue for project funding every year has required a boost in the tax rate in New Jersey as drivers leave their car at home during the pandemic.
"New Jersey announced Friday an increase in the state's gas tax rate," reports Philadelphia tv station WVPI. "Effective October 1, the New Jersey gas tax will increase 9.3 cents per gallon."
Officials from the New Jersey Department of Treasury said the gas tax increase was necessary to offset the decreasing levels of driving in the state during the pandemic, as mandated by a law passed in 2016, during the administration for former Governor Chris Christie, that requires the state's Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) to adjust the state's gas tax rate to generate $2 billion in revenue a year.
Other news outlets in New Jersey picked up the news about the forthcoming bump in New Jersey's gas tax, including articles by Storm Gifford for the New York Daily News and Joe Hernandez for WBGO.
According to Hernandez, the state's drivers were buying less gasoline even before the pandemic hit, but the trend has intensified since March. Meanwhile, drivers worried about the impact of the tax increase on their wallets can at least be grateful that the tax increase will be offset by the ongoing decline in fuel prices that has also coincided with the pandemic, according to data cited by Hernandez.
FULL STORY: New Jersey to raise gas tax rate nearly 10 cents per gallon on Oct. 1
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