We don’t know what gas prices will be this summer, but we know the tax on gasoline is going up. The state Board of Equalization has approved a three-and-a-half cent excise tax increase. That means California will have the highest gas taxes in the nation, at almost 40 cents a gallon. Board member George Runner says the tax increase of a fraction of a cent a gallon last year was miscalculated…

Listen to George Runner 1

Runner, who is a former Republican State Senator and voted against the increase, says because projected excise tax revenue is supposed to stay the same from year to year, consumers are actually penalized for buying more economic vehicles…

Listen to George Runner 2

The excise tax was passed by the state legislature in 2010, as a way to offset a decrease in sales tax on gasoline. Excise tax money goes to a specific use, like funding highways, while sales tax revenue goes into the state’s general fund.