Gas prices going up: Excise tax kicks in at midnight

by Jason Armstrong Stephens Media HILO -- The state government is about to begin fueling higher gas prices. Starting at midnight Tuesday, motorists can expect to pay at least another 12 cents per gallon -- plus any market-based increase -- on top of the $3.16 many Hilo dealers were charging Monday for a gallon of regular unleaded. That's when ethanol-blended gasoline filling nearly every Hawaii pump will be subject to the same excise tax applied to other purchases. The gas had been exempted from excise tax under a two-year program aimed at promoting the use of renewable fuels. But a budget crisis prompted the Legislature's vote earlier this year to allow the ethanol excise tax credit to expire when the new fiscal year starts July 1. Taxing gasoline will raise an estimated $40 million a year. It also means Hawaii will once... [read full story]                    

powered by