Gas guzzlers beware: tax hikes are coming

Alex Cnossen

Alex Cnossen Jun 28, 2025

Jan 12, 2018

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          <article>
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                <h1>Gas guzzlers beware: tax hikes are coming</h1>
                <h2><p>This Sunday, Washington state bumps up its gas tax up by 7 cents a gallon. But we're not stopping there - next summer, the state's going raise it again, charging an additional 4.9 cents, reaching 49.4 cents per gallon then. Barring action by any</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/alex-cnossen-crosscut-com/">Alex Cnossen</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 12, 2018</time></p>
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            <figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://dev.cascadepbs.org/content/images/sites/default/files/images/article/gallery/460375914_62eeb623f0_o.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="460375914_62eeb623f0_o" loading="lazy" width="300" height="225"></figure><p>This Sunday, Washington state bumps up its gas tax up by 7 cents a gallon. But we're not stopping there - next summer, the state's going raise it again, charging an additional 4.9 cents, reaching 49.4 cents per gallon then. Barring action by any other state, the hikes will move our gas tax to the second highest in the nation (Pennsylvania will have the highest), <a href="http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20150727/NEWS01/150729195/Gas-tax-rising-7-cents-to-fund-transportation-projects-?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">The Herald of Everett reports</a>. The Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee approved the two-step increase to help pay for new roads, bridges and bike paths.</p>
          </article>

This Sunday, Washington state bumps up its gas tax up by 7 cents a gallon. But we're not stopping there - next summer, the state's going raise it again, charging an additional 4.9 cents, reaching 49.4 cents per gallon then. Barring action by any other state, the hikes will move our gas tax to the second highest in the nation (Pennsylvania will have the highest), The Herald of Everett reports. The Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee approved the two-step increase to help pay for new roads, bridges and bike paths.

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By Alex Cnossen

Alex Cnossen is a Northwest native and has worked for several local publications, including KOMO, KIRO and KING-TV. He grew up in Portland and loves to run and write. Follow him on Twitter @CnossenAle