by Jerry Agar

Most gas stations charge $2.19 a gallon, a survey finds.  I was ready to run out and fill up, in case it goes back up again.

Then I realized that I was reading the News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri, not Illinois, after fortuitously clicking on the wrong link.  But why so much cheaper than what I see at my local pump in the leafy suburb where I live, and so incredibly affordable as compared to gasoline in Chicago?

Oh, I know.  It must be gouging by Big Oil.

But wait!  Big Oil is so big that Illinois and Missouri get their gas from the same guys.  The city of Chicago and my family-friendly suburb shop at the same tanker as well.

The local station operator has very little control over prices, so who is left?

Government.

Let's run the numbers.

Tax on gasoline in Illinois is 57.9 cents/gallon.  In Missouri it is 36 cents.  Chicago charges an additional 12.75 cents per gallon.  Add in the federal tax of 18.4 cents, and that $2.99/gallon gas in Chicago (as of Noon today) contains 89.05 cents/gallon in taxes.

Just to put that in better perspective, gasoline in Chicago, at $2.99 (eliminating for purposes of argument the tenths of a penny) is $2.10 plus tax.  That is a "sales tax" rate of 42%.

There is still a significant gap, after controlling for tax, between the price of gas in Chicago and in Springfield, Missouri.  Big city v. smaller town.  I am sure that if we explored all of those reasons, other taxes and regulations would have a lot to do with them as well.  But let's stick to direct gasoline taxes.

Oil companies do the exploration, the drilling - including the wells that don't pay off - the trucking, the refining, the trucking again, the operation of filling stations and they charge $2.10/gallon.  Chicago teams up with other government entities to add 42%, and their contribution was what?

Who is doing the gouging?