Escambia Shares More Gas Tax With Century, Less With Pensacola

July 15, 2016

The Escambia County Commission voted to decrease the amount of local option gas tax funds shared with the City of Pensacola, while increasing the percentage shared with Century.

After two and a half hours of deliberation, the county agreed to a distribution formula that would guarantee the city of Pensacola a 6.9 percent share of the local option gas tax passed in 2015 for a period of 10 years. That represented a decrease from the 18.22 percent currently in effect.

The  commission also voted to submit an interlocal agreement to the city that would allocate an additional 8.63 percent, or approximately $730,000, of the local option gas tax specifically for resurfacing projects in city council Districts 5, 6 and 7. This will allow the city of Pensacola to meet its infrastructure goals while addressing concerns in economically-challenged areas of the city.

The commission also voted to increase the percentage paid to Century from 0.63 percent to 0.81 percent, or about $20,000 per year.

Under the formula approved by the Escambia County Commission on Thursday, Pensacola will receive about $590,000 plus about $1.3 million through the interlocal agreement. Century will receive about $68,000, while Escambia County will retain about $7.1 million.

The Pensacola City Council voted Thursday night to accept the plan….with one change. The city changed language that would let either side opt out of the agreement to say that both the city and the county would have to agree to terminate.

The funds are use by the municipalities and the county to maintain roads and sidewalks.

Comments

8 Responses to “Escambia Shares More Gas Tax With Century, Less With Pensacola”

  1. Bob C. on July 16th, 2016 7:12 am

    @ Jason,
    Thank You for giving us this response.
    It answers my questions and I appreciate that.
    Hope all have a Great Weekend and remember BUCKLE UP.

  2. Jason on July 15th, 2016 11:08 pm

    The DOT via the Comptrollers Office provides a 42-page report as to how much each level of government taxes fuels and to how those taxes are spent. As of January 1, 2016, the report indicates the following:

    Federal:
    18.4 cents p/g for gas/gasohol
    24.4 cents p/g for diesel

    Of these charges;
    2.8 cents p/g is spent on mass transit;
    0.1 cents (1/10 of a penny) per gallon spent on leaking tanks cleanup
    the remainder collected is spent on road and bridge building/maintenance.

    State Level – 17.3 cents per gallon:
    2.0 cents p/g – Constitutional fuel tax – returned to the county for Acquisition, construction and maintenance of roads;
    1.0 cents p/g – County Fuel tax – Any legitimate County transportation purpose;
    1.0 cents p/g – Municipal fuel tax – Any legitimate County transportation purpose;
    13.3 cents per gallon – at least 15% of funds collected must be spent on “mass transit”, remaining monies to be spent on any legitimate transportation purpose.

    the State also charges an inspection fee of .00125 cents per gallon bringing their total tax/fees to 17.425 cents per gallon.

    Local level – 18.4 cents per gallon;
    1.0 cents p/g – known as the 9th cent – to used for any legitimate transportation purpose;
    6.0 cents p/g – used to fund local transportation of other infrastructure needs;
    4.0 cents p/g – used to fund ECAT;

    7.4 cents p/g – SCETS tax (State Comprehensive Enhanced
    Transportation System Tax) is actually charged by the State, but must be used in the district where collected. As such, the Comptrollers office assigns this as a County tax.

    The total tax collected on a gallon of gas sold in Escambia County is 54.225 cents.

    The total tax collected on a gallon of diesel fuel sold in Escambia County is: 62.1 cents.

  3. Willis on July 15th, 2016 9:41 pm

    Apparently someone was on Crack when they went to Mississippi.
    The last 4 cent per gallon was for ECAT not ECUA and the last time I was on some of the roads in Mississippi I was glad to get off them.
    But yes they are great leading into and around the casinos.

    The majority of Escambias gas tax appears to be used towards funding the Roads Division.

  4. old man on July 15th, 2016 8:45 pm

    i was in gulf port this week and paid 1.90per gallon and yes the roads are in good shape which is more than i can say for some of the roads in this area

  5. Century resident on July 15th, 2016 8:21 pm

    Thanks!

  6. Rodney on July 15th, 2016 7:20 pm

    @Bob C, very good question sir. One of the most recent gas taxes is the $.04 per gallon to support ECUA. Last week I was on a business trip in Mississippi and gas was $1.93 a gallon. The most obvious benefit is cheaper fuel prices but their roads, all of their roads, are maintained and well kept. If fuel taxes cannot support what they are deemed for then it is time for an audit.

  7. Ponderosa hill on July 15th, 2016 6:59 pm

    Att : Bob C…….if memory is correct the Fed govt gets 18.4 cents per gal for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel. The state ( Florida) gets 36.4 cents per gal. and Escambia County gets 11 cents for a total of about 65 cents per gal. This is kinda a hidden tax to most of us, but all must pay ( rich or poor ) if buy gas in Escambia County Fla. other States and counties may charge (more or less ). These Billions of dollars in tax are mostly un-noticed by the majority of us but prolly hurts the poor & young the most .

  8. Bob C. on July 15th, 2016 2:15 pm

    Have always wondered, what part of my cost for a gallon of gas goes to TAXES?

    Lots of mumbo-jumbo junk about the answer to that but is anyone able to give a straightforward simple answer?

    If a US Gallon of regular gasoline costs $2.00 US currency, what part of that $2.00 is for TAXES and WHAT are those taxes used for?

    Seems with all the “Clear and Transparent” that should be an easy answer.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News