North Carolina’s gasoline tax increased another 2.8 cents per gallon January 1. Part of the tax is based on the average wholesale price, and is recalculated every six months. Higher gas prices have caused the tax to increase.

The combined state and federal tax is now about 49 cents per gallon of gasoline in North Carolina, the highest in the South and the sixth-highest in the nation.

Most citizens believe it is unfair for the state to reap a windfall because gasoline prices have skyrocketed. Last fall a group of Republicans in the legislature unsuccessfully attempted to have the tax capped. A bi-partisan group of legislators has asked the governor to call a special session to have the increase repealed.

Governor “Tax Hike Mike” Easley, who supports the fuel tax increase, has refused to call a special session of the General Assembly. Spokeswoman Allison Stivender said a freeze in the gasoline tax would “delay vital highway projects across the state.”

But the gas tax is not always used for roads. Over the past few years, about a billion dollars of highway fund money has been diverted to other uses.

To learn more about the North Carolina gasoline tax, and to sign an online petition to the state legislators, visit www.stopthegastaxhike.com .