New Jersey’s State Gas Tax will go down October 1st. The Garden State is collecting 41.4 cents for each gallon (48.4 cents per diesel gallon) sold in the state. The gas tax in NJ will fall by a penny a gallon or around 2%. The state tax rate needs to be adjusted each October to ensure a $2 Billion dollar revenue each year in order to support the Transportation Trust Fund. New Jersey has the 11th highest gas rate in the nation. NJ’s gas tax has increased around 30 cents since 2016, when former governor Chris Christie agreed to raise the motor fuels tax by 23 cents a gallon, which happened to be the state’s first gas tax hike since 1988. 

“We are pleased that this dedicated funding stream continues to provide billions of dollars across the state to support our critical transportation infrastructure needs,” Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio said. 

Due to the gas tax revenue being dependent on the amount people buy, the state wants assurance that they will have enough money for infrastructure projects. Tax collections came in higher than expected last year so we will have the gas tax decrease. The treasurer and also legislative officials will review revenue and then set the tax rate to reach a target figure each year.

Gas prices had dropped to $3.99 earlier this month which was down by 20%.  This happens to be New Jersey’s second year that the tax has fallen, except this year’s drop is minuscule compared to last year’s 8-cent decline of 2021. It has been found that gas prices went down 20% from a high in June and the 1st time the average has ever fallen below $4 since March.