
The Saraland City Council is looking into possibly increasing the tax on gasoline by a penny a gallon.
City Council President Dr. Howard Rubenstein said, "Nobody likes to say that we're in favor of a tax increase, but we think this one is minimal."
Saraland city officials said the downturn in the economy has meant they're collecting less sales taxes
Rubenstein said, "None of it is for the school system. It is all dedicated for streets, and re-surfacing, street management, drainage, those issues.
Saraland has the lowest property tax of any municipality in Mobile County. Our sales tax is also the lowest. Recently, Satsuma and Chickasaw, our two neighboring communities, raised their gas tax to five cents a gallon. Ours is currently four. The proposal would make ours basically equal to theirs."
News Five asked motorists at one Saraland gas station Wednesday night if the tax hike would make them stop buying gas in that city.
Lawrence Saranthus of Mobile said, "No, I've got to work up here. I've got to get gas anyway. A penny isn't going to make any difference to me."
Camon Brannon lives in Satsuma, but he said, "No, not particularly."
Derrick Montalvo said, "It wouldn't make any difference. I'd buy gas anywhere. If you need gas, you've got to get gas."
Rubenstein said the city already has a hiring and promotion freeze and has cutback on overtime.
The City Council is scheduled to talk about the increase at its meeting Thursday night.
Gas Prices Falling









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