Maryland's latest fuel tax increase that took effect Jan. 1 may not put much of a damper on plummeting gasoline and diesel prices at the pump.
That's because retail fuel prices are expected to continue falling with the price of crude oil, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.
"We think it will likely increase by about 3 cents, because the Maryland comptroller's office uses two methods to calculate that," Ragina Cooper Avarella, public and government affairs manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said of the new tax.
The statewide average for regular gasoline was $2.46 Monday, down 36 cents from a month ago and 99 cents from a year ago, AAA reported, but prices in Harford are significantly lower, with many retailers selling gasoline below $2.35.
The state first saw the gas tax increase in the summer of 2013, when residents experienced a 3.5 cent rise in the tax, as well as higher tolls on bridges and tunnels.
Cooper Avarella noted that with continuing drops in fuel prices, "[the additional tax] may in fact be unapparent to most motorists."
She pointed out the overall state tax increase is expected to generate $4.5 billion in funding for transportation projects over a six-year period.
"It is unclear exactly how much a gas tax will go up, considering that gas prices have really been at record lows," she said.
At least one Harford state legislator, however, said she hopes to keep cutting gasoline taxes, as well as toll costs for the state's drivers.
Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Republican, who has represented the west side of the county since 2011, said $8 tolls on Route 40's Hatem Bridge between Harford and Cecil counties are among the high expenses she hopes the new state administration will rein in.
"The gas tax obviously hits everybody who drives, so with fuel prices, it won't have as big an impact, but certainly the automatic [tax] escalator the legislature put on the gas tax will just continually raise the gas tax," Szeliga said Tuesday.
"I think we have to take a look at that now that [Gov.-elect Larry] Hogan was elected," she said. "I think we have to look at the Hatem [Bridge] toll. That is just a really very prominent issue on everyone's minds, is the tolls."