Onondaga County Capped Gas Taxes at $4 a Gallon for the Summer. Here Is What You Actually Save.

The Onondaga County Legislature voted 15-2 on Tuesday, April 7 to cap the county’s 4 percent sales tax on gasoline and diesel at $4 per gallon. The cap takes effect June 1 and runs through September 1 — covering the entire summer driving season.

The measure passed with broad bipartisan support. Republican Minority Leader Brian May led the push, with co-sponsors including Democratic Majority Leader Nodesia Hernandez and Legislature Chair Nicole Watts.

The Math

Onondaga County’s local sales tax rate on motor fuel is 4 percent. Under the cap, the county collects tax only on the first $4 per gallon. Anything above that price is untaxed at the county level.

That means the maximum county gas tax under this cap is 16 cents per gallon, regardless of how high prices climb.

At current Syracuse-area prices of roughly $4.01 to $4.04 for regular unleaded, the savings are minimal — less than a penny per gallon. But the cap is designed as insurance against further price spikes. If regular hits $5 a gallon, you save 4 cents per gallon. On a 15-gallon fill-up at $5 per gallon, that is 60 cents saved. At $6 per gallon, the savings double to $1.20 per fill-up.

The bigger immediate impact is on diesel, which is running $5.75 to $6.00 per gallon in the Syracuse area. Diesel buyers — including farmers, trucking operators, and construction crews — save 7 to 8 cents per gallon starting June 1. Legislator David Knapp noted the cap will benefit agricultural operators and farmers who are heavy diesel consumers.

Who Voted No and Why

Legislator Maurice Brown voted against the measure on equity grounds, arguing it only benefits car owners and does nothing for residents who rely on public transit or do not drive.

Legislator Charles Garland raised a different concern: whether gas stations would actually pass the savings through to consumers or absorb the difference into their margins.

That skepticism has some basis. A New York Focus investigation found that most of the savings from the state’s 2022 gas tax holiday did not reach consumers at the pump.

The 2022 Precedent

Onondaga County passed a similar cap in 2022 during the Russia-Ukraine war price spike, when gas topped $5 per gallon. That cap was set at $3 — a dollar lower than the current measure — and lasted six months from June through November. It passed 14-1. Brian May championed that one too, as Majority Leader at the time.

Statewide in 2022, Governor Hochul suspended state gas and diesel taxes from June through the end of the year, and 13 counties capped at $3 while 12 more capped at $2. The combined statewide effort saved New Yorkers approximately $609 million, according to the governor’s office.

County CFO Kristi Smiley said she was not certain how much the 2022 measure actually saved residents and predicted the 2026 cap would have a minimal budget impact.

Why Prices Are Elevated

Gas prices nationally crossed $4 per gallon for the first time since 2022 after U.S. and Israeli forces launched coordinated airstrikes on Iran in late February. The Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for roughly 20 percent of global oil — was effectively closed for weeks, with tanker traffic dropping from an average of 24 vessels per day to four.

Prices in the Syracuse area are up roughly 29 percent year over year. Nationally, GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan noted that a two-week ceasefire agreed April 8 could push prices back below $4 within one to two weeks if it holds. Oil dropped 13 to 16 percent immediately after the ceasefire announcement.

That timing creates an irony: if the ceasefire holds and prices drop below $4 before June 1, the cap becomes functionally irrelevant for regular gasoline. Diesel, priced well above $4, would still benefit.

What Other Counties Are Doing

Dutchess County has proposed a cap at $3 per gallon effective June 1. Ulster County is considering waiving county tax above $3 for the summer. Putnam and Rockland Counties have already approved caps. Fifteen state senators sent a letter to Governor Hochul on March 31 urging a statewide gas tax suspension.

Hochul rejected the idea, saying the state tried it in 2022 and companies raised prices to match, leaving consumers no better off.

SU supply chain professor Patrick Penfield echoed the broader point: geopolitical factors matter far more than local taxes for what drivers pay at the pump.