BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County lawmakers have also approved to temporarily cap the local sales tax on gasoline at $2.
That will start on June 1 and run through February of next year. Drivers will save about 11 cents a gallon if gas stations pass on the savings.
"Theoretically, if they bought the gas at a wholesaler and are not paying the sales tax, they could say, 'Well, I could charge the same amount and get the full amount of the savings, so to speak,' " Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said.
"But we are going to have our office of consumer protection out there, with the weights and measures out there, and working with the Attorney General's office to ensure that the savings are actually passed on to consumers."
The county executive says if anyone thinks price gouging is happening, then they should report it to the county.
A recent Siena Poll shows that most New Yorkers approve of the state temporarily suspending the gas tax, but disapproved spending $600 million toward a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills.
The poll, conducted by the Siena Research Institute at Siena College, was released on Monday.
Seventy-three percent of the those surveyed for the poll say they approve of suspending the gas tax in New York. Sixteen percent did not approve.
“For New Yorkers, reducing the gas tax appears to be in the same category as mom and apple pie. At least two-thirds of voters of every demographic group – party, region, age, gender, race, income, religion, ideology – approve of the state suspending its share of the gas tax between June and December,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.