LOCKPORT, N.Y. — Niagara County lawmakers want residents to know that they are working hard to ease the financial burden caused by rising gas prices.
During a special meeting on Monday, county legislators unanimously voted, 10-0, to cap the sales tax on gas at $3 per gallon, one of three options offered by the state budget.
While the state budget includes a 16-cent reduction per gallon in state gas taxes beginning June 1, various counties have been looking to provide even more relief to drivers on a county level - Niagara County included.
"We believe we can provide the relief that the legislature has asked for consumers, for our residents without impacting the budget," County Manager Richard Updegrove said. "We're very comfortable with the budgeting that we did last fall, our numbers are coming in pretty close to what we projected so with that as a backdrop we decided to look at gas taxes."
Updegrove and the county's Budget Director Dan Huntington address the legislature sharing their recommendation to cap the sales tax at $3.00 following a deep dive into the various ways doing so could benefit consumers.
"I looked at gas at its current level, which is about $4.25 or $4.50, and looked at how much sales tax the consumer would save if we capped it at $3.00 and for the rest of the year it would be about $2 million in savings to the consumer, " Huntington explained.
Which came as good news to one Niagara County resident, Erik Schwob, who says he spends a good chunk of his time driving for DoorDash as a second source of income.
Schwob tells 2 On Your Side, "Right now people need any relief they can get, I hope this sticks."
Minority Leader Chris Robbins says he's supportive of this decision and plan, so long as there is close monitoring that reductions will in fact translate to savings for consumers.
"I want to make sure that money goes to the consumer," Robbins expresses. "June 1st, let's look, did that person who went and bought gas that morning see .$20 a gallon cheaper? That is going to be the real teller at that time."
Erie County legislators are expected to take up a similar measure, capping the gas tax at $2.00 a gallon. Their proposal could be voted on as early as Thursday, with a final decision expected sometime next week.