Gas prices in Florida fell last week but are set to rise this week when the state gas tax holiday expires Tuesday, AAA said Monday.
The tax holiday has allowed drivers in Florida to fill up their tanks without paying the state’s 25.3-cent-a-gallon gas tax. The holiday, part of a broad tax package approved this year by Florida lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis, started Oct. 1.
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“While Halloween is traditionally a time for filling bags with candy, drivers may also want to fill their gas tank to take advantage of current prices at the pump,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesperson for The Auto Club Group. “Pump prices will likely rise 25 cents overnight when the state gas tax [holiday] expires on Tuesday morning.”
When the state sales tax holiday was implemented at the beginning of the month, gas prices declined a total of 22 cents within a couple of days, falling from $3.39 to $3.17 per gallon, according to AAA. But the savings for drivers was short-lived.
“During the first week of October, OPEC announced plans to cut its oil production rate, which sparked a 17% oil price hike, raising the cost of producing gasoline,” AAA said in a news release. “This ultimately dragged Florida gas prices back to where they were before the state’s gas tax holiday.”
According to AAA, gas prices for the month of October averaged $3.33 per gallon — about 6 cents less than the price on Sept. 30.
AAA said Florida gas prices declined 7 cents last week. As of Monday, according to AAA, the average price for gas in the state averaged $3.29 per gallon. In Duval County, it was 1 cent less — $3.28, AAA said.
Daily gas price averages can be found at gasprices.aaa.com.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.