Letters to the Editor

State should

suspend gas tax

One thing the Palin administration and the Legislature could do as a gesture of good faith to the people of Alaska is to suspend state taxes on fuels indefinitely.

The burden on Alaskans is growing daily with ever-increasing costs of foodstuffs and goods delivered by ships, aircraft, train and trucks powered by fuels derived from oil. As the cost of fuel increases, so does the cost of any item so transported. It’s the same for heating with fuels. It is definitely costing much, much more to eat and to stay warm these days.

The state tax is 8 cents per gallon of fuel, whether gasoline or diesel. The feds hit us for 24.4 cents on diesel and 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline. For each 10 gallons of regular gasoline you put in your vehicle, that means you are paying an additional 80 cents in state tax and $1.84 in federal tax. Put them together and one is paying $2.64 per 10 gallons of gasoline in just taxes alone. For diesel, the cost is higher. Every 10 gallons of diesel is $2.44 in federal tax and 80 cents in state tax. That’s $3.24 in taxes for each 10 gallons of diesel.

No wonder groceries are going up, up and up. The more it costs to get to market, the more it will cost to the consumer. The more it costs to get to work, the less there is for food, fuel and bills.

Although lawmakers have finished their regular session on Sunday, maybe our elected officials should also consider suspending the state tax on fuels and subsidizing the federal tax until oil drops below $80 per barrel.

Suspending the state fuel tax and would bring immediate benefit to all Alaskans and serve as to stimulate the economy in a positive manner. Although I find abhorrent the idea of government subsidizing anything, reducing the federal fuel tax through subsidization would further reduce the impact of rising oil prices on Alaskans.

Alaskans already pay an artificially inflated price at the pump as a result of the fact that our fuel prices are based upon prices in the Lower 48 and not with respect to the costs of production and transport within Alaska. Until that rape ends, we will continue to pay much more than we should.

Instead of fighting more than $70 million in earmarks for special interests, the Legislature and governor could do something that would benefit Alaskans across the board.

Until Uncle Sam pulls his head out and opens ANWR, and our natural gas goes to market via something other than a LNG tanker to Japan from Nikiski, we can expect ever-increasing prices for fuels.

I think it appropriate that the state do something with immediate impact to benefit Alaskans who are paying ever more for fuels that cost no more to get to the pump today than they did when the first barrel of oil from Prudhoe Bay flowed through TAPS.

Alaska is the most profitable operating environment the oil companies have worldwide.

Larry Wood

Palmer