Keep gas tax cap

Jefferson County residents, like all Americans, are reeling from record-high gasoline prices that keep going up and up with no relief in sight. Governments are looking for ways to give consumers a break, including a possible gas-tax holiday. But not Jefferson County lawmakers. No, they're talking about making it harder every time motorists fill up their tanks.

Two years ago, lawmakers stopped collecting the tax on gasoline priced over $2 a gallon to save motorists a few pennies. Now, county legislators are talking about reinstating the gas tax on the entire price of gas currently at about $4.15 a gallon. Instead of looking for ways to lighten the burden, lawmakers see the higher prices as an opportunity to dig deeper into citizens' pockets.

Lawmakers have a valid point when they wonder whether the gas tax cap served its intended purpose of lowering consumers' costs when it was put in place in 2006. Prices have risen steadily since then, so we may never know if the sales tax reduction ever reached the motorist at the pump or instead showed up in the profits of vendors and distributors. But that is not relevant now.

What is certain is that removing the cap on the more than $4 a gallon price will add another 6 cents to the retailers' costs and that will likely show up at the pump. And as the price of gas goes up, so too will the taxes.

To justify the higher gas tax, lawmakers hold out the possibility of lowering the property or even sales tax as a result of the income from higher gas taxes. However, twice in recent years lawmakers have "temporarily" extended the sales tax to its present level and have refused to give shoppers a break on inexpensive clothing. The regressive sales tax will impose a greater burden on poor families who can least afford the added expense. If lawmakers want to cut taxes, they should do so by spending less.

Interestingly, the Republican candidate for the 118th Assembly District, Robert W. Cantwell III, supports a state cap on property taxes and eliminating some state gasoline taxes while his Republican colleagues who control the county Legislature go in the opposite direction.

Lawmakers should drop the unconscionable plan that will only raise the cost of living and make it more difficult for county residents.