CT Taxpayers are Getting Gassed

Over the past seven days I have been on the road driving throughout the Northeast from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts. So I’ve been buying a lot of gas and paying attention to how much it costs.


The average price for a gallon of regular gas in Connecticut hit $4 April 15th.

According to AAA, which monitors prices at the pumps, gas stations statewide are charging $4 a gallon on average. That is up from an average of $3.75 a month ago and $2.97 last year at this time

Oh and by the way, Connecticut has some of the biggest gas tax totals in the nation and the largest in New England. Currently we pay .65 per gallon.

But our Governor, Dannel P. Malloy doesn’t think we pay quite enough.

State Rep Dan Carter, speaking in The Danbury Patch breaks it down this way

The per-gallon tax total you pay at the pump represents three separate taxes. First, there’s the federal tax—a shade over 18 cents. There’s also a state “gross receipts” tax levied as a percentage of the wholesale price. The rate is 7 percent. When the wholesale price jumps, it creates a state revenue windfall. Today, that tax equals 22 cents per gallon.
Last, there’s a fixed 25-cent tax—and Gov. Dannel Malloy has proposed increasing it by 3 cents to a whopping 28 cents per gallon

Malloy’s Senior Advisor Roy Occhiogrosso says the proposed gas tax hike along with the other across the board tax increases “still maintain the state’s competitive edge.”

Seriously dude? Right now Connecticut’s competitive edge is about as dull as the imitation butter knife in a toddler’s play-set.

Jobs continue to head for the border and the Governor wants to make it harder for workers to reach those remaining jobs by increasing the cost of driving to them by another 3 cents.

Oh and by the way, this isn’t one of those taxes that only effect the wealthy. This is a burden is being placed upon every man woman and teenager that drives a vehicle.

Meanwhile the state, this month sent out over $20 million in longevity bonus checks to employees on the job for ten years or more. Those bonuses cost taxpayers over 39 million dollars last year and the total will rise this year.

This just doesn’t make any sense to me. But then, I’m a Conservative Capitalist.