Gas Prices Dropping!
Saturday, November 08, 2008
A friend of mine breathlessly reported that gas prices in Tenessee are down to under $2! That's really amazing! I haven't even noticed gas prices in sooo long here, because I haven't been outside! And when I am, I guess I just haven't paid attention to the gas stations (probably because it's been too painful in the past).
I checked GasBuddy (a good site for comparing prices) and New York State Gas Prices and it tells me that gas in Oneida County is still much higher than other places. Here's the break down of some areas in New York: (lowest prices)
Utica: $2.45
Syracuse: $2.45
Albany: $2.24
Buffalo: $2.28
New York City: $2.47
Poughkeepsie: $2.53
Long Island: $1.99
Will someone please tell me why it is so expensive in Utica?! It's as expensive as it is in New York City! That's also very strange because Utica is in Oneida County, one of the poorest counties in the state. Huh?! How can this be? Are our politicians more concerned about using their golf bags or something?
The only thing that I can think of is that there are more stations competing in places like Long Island. But that doesn't make sense either. Typically in Albany our gas prices are higher than yours, and then they're lower when I visit my parents in Syracuse.
I never understood why sales tax in Oneida County used to be so much higher than other upstate counties. (Of course, they've raised it everywhere else since then.)
Sales tax in Oneida County is STILL more than anywhere else. It's almost 9% right now. I have no idea why it's so expensive to live in such a dirt-poor county. Maybe it's historically been so high because we have to pay the mafia in government? Their salaries are about twice what the average Oneida County worker makes. Grrr.
