By Staff
Gas prices have been falling for a few weeks, but even when they were at a peak near $4 per gallon, some local governments were not seeing any increase in tax revenue from the higher prices.
That's because gas is taxed per gallon, not by cost, so when drivers buy less gas - as many have been lately - cities and counties see less revenue.
County revenue from gas taxes is currently slightly lower than this time a year ago, Escambia County Administrator Tony Sanks said.
Karen Singleton, East Brewton City Clerk, said the city's revenue from gasoline went down this past year.
Area residents have said they are buying less gas because of the higher prices, but many welcomed seeing the gas prices down from near $4 per gallon.
Brewton resident Ruth Cameron said she is very glad to see the cost of gas to come down.
Minty Lemma, who is the manager of the new Jet Pep gas station in Brewton, said she has nothing to compare with last year's sales, but the store is doing good business right now. The station has among the lowest gas prices in the Brewton area, holding steady at $3.41 per gallon on Friday.
Joyce Hicks, manager of the Diamond station on Douglas Avenue, said the store is selling about the same amount of gas as they were. “I can't compare it to last year,” Hicks said, “but as compared to January of this year we have sold about the same amount of gallons.”
JoAnn Fore, manager of the Shell station in East Brewton, said that although overall sales are better, gas purchases are down. “Sales are about the same or even a little higher,” Ford said. “The number of gallons bought may have gone down a little, but not much.”