HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero has signed into law Bill 295-36, the six-month moratorium on fuel surcharges and most liquid fuel taxes. Lawmakers passed the measure last week, during the emergency session on several bills tackling rising fuel prices in Guam.
On Guam, the cost of a gallon of regular-grade fuel is $6.30 as of Wednesday morning. That’s a 19-cent drop after the governor signed a bill that places a six-month moratorium on gas and diesel taxes.
The bill would pause for six months the 14-cents-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel and the 15-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline, but not the tax on jet fuel.
Now known as Public Law 36-105, the legislation could mean a savings of up to 75 cents for a motorist who buys 5 gallons of gas and up to $1.50 for a 10-gallon purchase — if the tax cut gets directly passed on to consumers. The tax cut will apply to wholesalers.
“Our island is certainly not alone in experiencing the financial strain from the rising cost of fuel — the country and the world share this struggle. And it is true that the cost of fuel is anticipated to rise further in the coming months,” Leon Guerrero stated in her letter signing the bill into law.
“While efforts are underway nationally to stabilize gas prices, we must do what we can at the local level to alleviate the strain experienced by our community. This means studying the ways in which our government contributes to the price at the pump.”
Liquid fuel taxes and surcharges feed into the Guam Highway Fund, which is used for road and village street repairs.
To make up for funding losses stemming from the tax cuts, the new law pausing gas and diesel taxes appropriates money from the General Fund.
This was the measure favored by the governor out of the several addressed during senators’ recent emergency session, and the only one to pass the Legislature.
Others either failed, were passed over or returned to the committee level to undergo public hearings. A measure to repeal the same fuel taxes and surcharges was discussed and amended in the emergency session, but failed to garner enough votes to pass.
Almost all the measures are tax-related. However, one proposes to place a cap on fuel prices in Guam: Bill 320-36.
An amendment added to Public Law 36-105, while senators were debating it, was a provision that would require people or businesses involved in the wholesale or retail of automotive fuel products to declare “under penalty of perjury” that the tax and surcharge relief was not being collected from consumers. This declaration is to be submitted monthly for the duration of the moratorium.
“While there is more work to be done to achieve a comprehensive long-term solution to the rising cost of fuel, including a more meaningful transition to lifestyles that are less reliant on fossil fuels, every effort, however incremental, can help those in our community who need it today,” the governor stated. “For these reasons, I sign Bill No. 295-36 into law as Public Law No. 36-105.”
Tamisha Fejeran cautiously watches the gas pump meter at a Shell gas station in Upper Tumon on June 3. Legislation to pause the taxes on diesel and gasoline is now law.
