ATLANTA — Midnight Wednesday will bring a change at the gas pump that will end months of prices trending in a favorable direction.
Governor Brian Kemp’s State of Emergency that suspended Georgia’s 31.2-cent gas tax is set to expire. The Governor first suspended the tax in September to help Georgia drivers deal with inflation.
“It may be a good idea to fill your tank up here in the next couple of days,” Patrick DeHaan said with GasBuddy.
Up until now, gas prices in metro Atlanta have been moving in the right direction. Regular unleaded is currently three cents a gallon cheaper than it was a week ago, twenty cents a gallon cheaper than a month ago, and twenty-seven cents a gallon cheaper than it was on this day last year.
Get ready for an abrupt change of direction.
DeHaan of GasBuddy said it would be a couple of days before drivers feel the full impact of the gas tax.
“You might see stations raising a nickel on the first day, ten cents the next day until it’s completely phased in,” DeHaan said. “Just the nature of competition means that prices slowly start to move back up just for the same reason that they also slowly decline once the tax holiday was signed into law a few months ago.”
By law, Governor Brian Kemp’s suspension of the gas tax has to end when the legislature is in session. Lawmakers begin meeting today to redraw the state’s voting districts.
The Governor could ask the legislature to suspend the tax again or do it himself once the special session ends.
DeHaan said don’t be surprised if the 31-cent tax stays.
“The state is essentially subsidizing gasoline by not charging a tax, and everyone knows roads don’t improve themselves,” DeHaan said. “The state of Georgia is giving up a lot of revenue to repair roads…so that’s why I don’t think it’s going to happen again.”
Despite that, DeHaan believes the average price in Georgia will remain just below or possibly slightly above $3 a gallon through the end of winter.