State gas tax to be reduced starting in 2024
Pennsylvanians should feel a little ease at the pump once the new year begins as the state tax on gasoline and diesel fuels will be reduced in 2024 for the first time since 2018, according to the state Department of Revenue.
Beginning after Dec. 31, the tax on gasoline will fall to 57.6 cents per gallon, a decrease of 3.5 cents, and the tax on diesel will fall to 74.1 cents per gallon, a reduction of 4.4 cents.
State Rep. Aaron Bernstine, R-8th, said he has always been an advocate for reducing the state’s gas tax, which is one of the highest in the nation.
While his overall goal is to cut the gas tax in half, he said he feels this current reduction will have a positive impact on the state and Butler County.
“I’ve consistently advocated over my time in Harrisburg that we should significantly reduce that gasoline tax,” Bernstine said. “It hits people each and every day. It's a huge tax that burdens people, especially those that go to work every day.”
The state tax is applied to wholesalers and is then paired with a federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon.
The gas tax revenue in Pennsylvania is mostly used to pay for the maintenance and improvements of the commonwealth’s aging infrastructure such as roads and bridges.
State gas tax money also goes to funding state police. With the gas tax reduction, Gov. Josh Shapiro approved freeing up $125 million in gas tax revenue that would normally go to the state police, but will now go toward state Department of Transportation projects to fill the void.
This is a shift that Bernstine has advocated for, with hopes all state police funding will come out of the state’s “general budget” in the future, he said.
“This gas tax rate adjustment will not impact scheduled PennDOT projects,” the agency said in a statement. “Thanks to Governor Shapiro and the bipartisan budget he signed into law that moved $125 million in Motor License Fund revenues from PA State Police to PennDOT, the Department has additional revenue to support road and bridge projects.”
Pennsylvania’s motor fuel tax at 57.6 cents per gallon will still remain above average for other states with the national average set at $0.3236, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
According to a recent U.S. Census Bureau Pulse survey, 26% of Pennsylvania workers 18 or older now work from home one or more days per week.
Despite more people working from home, Bernstine said he believes this reduction will benefit Butler County commuters more compared to other parts of the state.
“I think it will help not only with business, but with folks here who naturally drive more than those in other parts of the state because we are more of a rural area,” Bernstine said. “It might impact others more in this area than others in the commonwealth.”
At the Sheetz on Route 228 in Cranberry Township on Friday, Joe Safar, of Wexford, was filling up with unleaded 88 gas.
“I hadn’t heard about the lower gas tax,” Safar said. “It doesn’t mean much to me, but I’m sure it will help a lot of people.”
As of Dec. 28, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Pennsylvania stood at $3.41, which mirrored Butler County’s average according to AAA. The national average came in at $3.12.
