A citywide gas tax that adds an additional 3 cents to every gallon of gasoline purchased went into effect during the summer.
The funds raised by the per-gallon tax, which was approved by the Eugene City Council earlier this year, will be used to pay for a 10-year backlog of street repairs estimated to cost $93 million. An estimated $2 million will come from the new gas tax.
Springfield and Cottage Grove have also adopted local gas tax ordinances, and the taxes went into effect in all three cities on Aug. 1.
The 3-cent-per-gallon tax will be placed on dealers who transport gasoline or diesel fuel into the city for sale. Federal, state and local gas taxes paid by the dealers are usually passed along to retailers, who typically add the amount to the price of a gallon of gas at the pump.
Eugene Public Works Department spokesman Eric Jones said the citywide gas tax is necessary to repair many streets in Eugene.
“If we don’t tackle this backlog, it will get bigger every year,” Jones said. “We don’t want to leave a legacy of deteriorated streets for future generations.”
Jones said the city has completed five street repair projects since the tax went into effect; portions of West 18th Avenue and Amazon Parkway were among those projects.
Jones added that the city staff estimated Eugene needs about $8 million to $9 million per year in order to keep up with repair demands. He said city officials were having discussions with leaders from Lane County, Springfield and Cottage Grove to create additional funding sources.
In addition to the new 3-cent gas tax in Eugene, retailers must also pay a statewide gas tax of 24.1 cents per gallon and a federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon. Congress is currently considering raising the federal gas tax by 6 cents to 24.4 cents per gallon.
Even with the 3-cent increase in price, the Chevron station located on Coburg Road has not seen a drop in business, according to attendant Kevin Kelley.
“This is Coburg (Road) so it’s usually pretty busy,” Kelley said. “People are coming in all the time.”
Kelley said when prices are at their highest, customers will often buy gas in smaller amounts.
“People will only spend $5 or $10 if the cost is high,” Kelley said.
Though gas prices have begun to drop nationwide and in Oregon, this month Eugene holds the second highest gasoline prices in the state at an average $1.88 per gallon of regular unleaded, according to the American Automobile Association.
Medford and Ashland have the highest prices in the state at $1.928 per gallon. The national average is $1.637 per gallon. At $1.868, Oregon’s average price is the third highest in the nation. Hawaii and California are ranked with the highest and second highest prices, respectively.
Undeclared freshman Valorie Darling, who owns a car, was surprised when she learned about the gas tax. She expressed that she did not view it as entirely negative news, however. She said if the city did not have money for road repairs, it could drain funds from city programs.
“Taxes are a problem, but they’re still important because without them we could end up losing other services,” Darling said. “Oregon is going through tough times so I think the tax is necessary.”