Consumer Alert: The numbers don’t lie, Data leads to questions about gas tax savings in Rochester

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — In our consumer alert, we’re crunching the numbers. The question we’re investigating is as follows: Are Rochester consumers still getting the full gas tax savings? After delving into the numbers, that’s the very question I’m taking to state and county leaders, leaders who promised us they would monitor prices to make sure retailers and middlemen didn’t keep the savings promised to us.

You’ll remember Monday I showed you clear evidence that across the country, the price we pay at the pump is not falling as fast as the price of wholesale gas.

Now I’m tackling the question of whether wholesalers and retailers are passing along the full gas tax savings to New Yorkers. A study of state gas tax holidays done at the University of Pennsylvania found that while consumers got most of the gas tax savings initially, eventually middlemen and retailers absorbed most of the savings, leaving consumers with little benefit.

So I wanted to know if that is happening here. I analyzed more than four months of AAA data, comparing the price of gas here in Rochester to the national average. In the three months before the gas tax holiday took effect, on average, gas in Rochester was consistently higher than the national average usually by 10 to 30 cents.

Take for example the month of May, the month before the gas tax holiday began. As you can see in the chart below, gas in Rochester was consistently higher.

Prices of Regular Unleaded Nationally vs. Rochester in May

May 2, 2022

• NATIONAL – $4.19
• ROCHESTER – $4.31
12 CENTS HIGHER IN ROCHESTER

May 9, 2022

• NATIONAL – $4.33
• ROCHESTER – $4.43
10 CENTS HIGHER IN ROCHESTER

May 16, 2022

• NATIONAL – $4.48
• ROCHESTER – $4.70
22 CENTS HIGHER IN ROCHESTER

May 23, 2022

• NATIONAL – $4.60
• ROCHESTER – $4.88
28 CENTS HIGHER IN ROCHESTER

May 31, 2022

• NATIONAL -$4.62
• ROCHESTER – $4.89
27 CENTS HIGHER IN ROCHESTER

Then on June 1, the gas tax holiday in New York as well as some counties began. And without the gas tax, the average price in Rochester fell to just under the national average.

Prices of Regular Unleaded Nationally vs. Rochester in June

June 6, 2022

• NATIONAL – $4.87
• ROCHESTER – $4.79
8 CENTS LOWER IN ROCHESTER

June 13, 2022

• NATIONAL- $5.01
• ROCHESTER – $4.98
3 CENTS LOWER IN ROCHESTER

June 20, 2022

• NATIONAL – $4.98
• ROCHESTER – $4.97
14 CENTS LOWER IN ROCHESTER

But as gas prices started to fall nationally in late June, a troubling trend began to emerge. Rochester prices are falling far more slowly, and now Rochester’s average is price is 27 cents more than the national average, just as it was before the gas tax holiday began. It’s a trend that doesn’t make sense. Without the gas tax, the average price in Rochester was just below the average national price. What would explain the widening gap between Rochester’s average price and the national average?

Rochester’s average gas price is now falling far more slowly than the national average price.

June 27, 2002

• NATIONAL $4.90
• ROCHESTER $4.95
5 CENTS HIGHER IN ROCHESTER

July 7, 2002

• NATIONAL $4.80
• ROCHESTER $4.92
12 CENTS HIGHER IN ROCHESTER

July 11, 2002

• NATIONAL $4.68
• ROCHESTER $4.86
18 CENTS HIGHER IN ROCHESTER

July 19, 2002

• NATIONAL $4.49
• ROCHESTER $4.76
27 CENTS HIGHER IN ROCHESTER

It begs the question: Are retailers and middlemen continuing to pass along the full gas tax savings? That’s a question I’m asking county and state leaders.