The state Board of Equalization today approved raising the excise tax for gasoline to 39.5 cents a gallon, a 3.5-cent increase that will take effect statewide on July 1.
Approval by a 3-2 vote came on the third and final day of BOE's meeting in Culver City.
The excise tax is the byproduct of laws signed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010.
The laws created a new tax structure for gasoline and mandated that BOE adjust the state gasoline excise tax rate by March 1 of each year.
The so-called "fuel tax swap" laws included a complex formula requiring BOE to lower the sales tax on fuel and raise the excise tax by a corresponding amount to to ensure "revenue neutrality."
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