New York suspends gas tax for the rest of the year 

New York announced that it is suspending its gas tax for the rest of the year as gas prices in the Tri-State area continue to rise above the national average. 

Beginning on June 1, the state’s 16 cents per gallon tax will be suspended throughout 2022. Some New York counties are also capping their local gas tax at $2 a gallon, such as Rockland County. Others, like Suffolk, Nassau, and Westchester counties, are capping their gas tax at $3. 

The move is expected to provide relief to drivers around the state who are being affected by the increasing cost of gasoline. 

As of May 31, the national average gas price at $4.62 a gallon. Yet it continues to increase, with its latest hike on Tuesday, when it increased five cents. In New York, the price per gallon cost $4.93 on Tuesday, compared to the $3.08 a gallon cost around this time last year.

"Nobody expected gas to be $4 or $5 a gallon when we were budgeting," said Rockland County Executive Ed Day. "Gas was $2 a gallon, so we said, 'Okay, that's what the budget is, that's what we're going to stay within. We'll return the rest to the people.'"

"We hope that benefit will accrue to the individual user," said Westchester County Executive George Latimer. "We don't know if it will, because it's really up to the oil companies. We, the county, do not have leverage over the oil companies."

State Senator John Mannion said that the suspension of New York’s gas tax could save New Yorkers an estimated $600 million this year. 

"Rising gas prices hurt families and our economy, and we are doing everything possible at the state level to lower costs," he said last week. 

Connecticut also suspended it's 25-cent a gallon gas tax earlier on March 23. In the Tri-State area, only New Jersey continues to have its gas tax as normal.