As tensions mount between the petroleum industry in California and state policymakers, the cost of a gallon of gasoline just got a smidge more expensive this week.

Monday marked the start of the new fiscal year and California’s state excise tax on gasoline increased 1.7 cents per gallon. That’s part of the annual adjustment for inflation that is part of Senate Bill 1, which the Legislature in Sacramento passed and then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in 2017.

The excise tax rose on July 1 from 57.9 cents per gallon to 59.6 cents.

Last summer, the excise tax jumped 4 cents per gallon from the previous year because the rate of inflation was higher.

Formally called the Road Repair and Accountability Act, the SB 1 gas tax expects to raise $52.4 billion over 10 years. More than $3.2 billion per year will go the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program that includes $400 million for bridges and culverts, $200 million local entities and $100 million for bicycle and pedestrian projects.

California has the highest state excise tax on gasoline in the country. Pennsylvania is second, charging 57.6 cents per gallon.

In addition to state taxes, motorists in every state also pay a federal excise tax of 18.4 cents per gallon.

California has the most expensive price per gallon of gasoline in the country. According to AAA, the average price in San Diego on Wednesday came to $4.82. That’s $1.31 higher than the national average of $3.51 a gallon. Statewide, the average price per gallon in California stood at $4.79.

However small in relative terms, the state excise tax increase is just one more expense that consumers — buffeted by inflation in so many other sectors of the economy — have to bear.

The war of words ramps up

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