Motorists grudgingly accept N.J.'s higher gas tax

The biggest gas tax increase in New Jersey history hits Kevin Civgin outside and inside. Outside because that’s where he pumps gasoline, at the Exxon station on Kinderkamack Road in Montvale, where many of his regular customers from New York say they’ll stop crossing the state line for cheap gas after the higher tax takes effect Tuesday.

Inside because that’s where Civgin keeps his baby, a 2016 Ford Mustang, which he parks in the station’s service bay to protect its bumblebee paint from the sun. When Civgin steps on the gas pedal the car’s exhaust cracks like lightning, and its gas mileage is appropriately abysmal, just 11 miles per gallon on city streets.

So with the Mustang’s 16-gallon tank and weekly fill-ups, that means New Jersey’s gas tax increase will cost Civgin about $191 extra per year.

“What can I do?” said Civgin, 35, who lives in Dumont. “I guess I have to pay.”

Read more: http://www.northjersey.com/news/motorists-grudgingly-accept-n-j-s-higher-gas-tax-1.1685739