Local

City leaders look at one-year four-cent gas tax holiday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval residents could soon save four cents per gallon.

Members of the city council met Friday to discuss suspending a portion of the local gas tax for a full year.

The member behind the proposal says the city could do this without losing a dime.

Councilwoman and mayoral-hopeful LeAnna Cumber (R-District 5) has calculated that by suspending the city’s four-cent share of the local gas tax for a year, the city would lose $17.6 million in revenue.

To make the proposal a wash, she has suggested backfill-ing that revenue with a portion of $171 million in COVID-19 relief funds coming to the city in June.

But the proposal still has a long way to go.

It still has to be formally drafted and then passed through the full council.

Even then, the viability of the idea is dependent on the governor waiving a state statute that only allows local governments to alter local taxes on the first of each year and after 60 days’ notice.

If all goes according to plan, Cumber predicted we could expect to see prices drop around June.

“We can’t solve the geopolitical challenges that you know cause gas to fluctuate but we can give some relief here and I think that we’re in such a unique position right now because of this COVID money that we can do it without interrupting anything that we’re doing or anything that we talked about doing,” said Cumber.

If the proposal is passed, not only would Duval residents save four cents on the gallon for a full year, they would also save an additional 25 cents on the gallon in October, thanks to a one-month gas tax holiday approved by the State Legislature this past session.

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