Regular unleaded was spotted at $3.35 a gallon over the weekend at several convenience stores around Baldwin County.
That didn’t last long, as it turns out.
The state of Georgia’s 33-cents-per-gallon fuel excise tax officially returned at midnight Wednesday, sending gas prices around town closer to the $4 per gallon mark than the $3 per gallon mark.
On Tuesday, Georgia had the third-cheapest gas in the country, according to GasBuddy, while USAA ranked Georgia at No 4. In the absence of the fuel tax suspension, the Peach State’s gas prices will now move back to the middle of the pack. The suspension had been in place since the middle of March. Georgia was the only state in the nation to completely suspend its gas tax.
The fuel excise tax generates more than $2 billion per year for the state government, and 100 percent of the revenue must be spent on “providing and maintaining an adequate system of public roads and bridges in this state,” according to state law. The majority of that money is spent on state route projects, although somewhere between 10-20 percent is earmarked for local governments. That comes in the form of the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG). The money distributed to each county is based on population and the total mileage of roads. LMIG money largely covered the repaving projects on Log Cabin Road and Lake Laurel Road, as well as other repaving projects around Milledgeville and Baldwin County in recent years.
On Monday, GasBuddy noted, “The nation’s average price of gasoline has fallen 19.5 cents over the last week.
“Much of the decline was driven by falling oil prices and the unwinding of recent price cycles, as growing optimism surrounding a potential U.S.-Iran agreement helped ease concerns over global oil supplies. Diesel prices also posted a substantial decline, falling more than 15 cents per gallon nationally,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
However, GasBuddy is predicting that the decrease may be short lived.
“The coast is anything but clear. Oil prices edged higher Sunday evening as uncertainty surrounding a potential deal persisted and renewed Israeli attacks added another layer of geopolitical risk. While motorists may continue to see some short-term relief, some price-cycling states could soon experience another upward swing as retailers run out of room to lower prices further. Overall, any setback in negotiations could quickly reverse the recent decline in fuel prices.”