ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Drivers in the Asheville area are paying less at the pump this week after North Carolina temporarily suspended its state gas tax.
Gasoline in the Asheville metro area, which covers Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Madison counties, averaged $3.94 a gallon as of Monday, Oct. 12. That is 16 cents cheaper than last week’s average and 4 cents below last month. Local prices still run approximately $1.14 higher than this time last year. Around the city, the cheapest station was priced at $3.48 per gallon and the most expensive at $4.24 per gallon.
Statewide, the average price of gas is currently $3.85 per gallon, while the national average sits at $4.31.
The drop follows House Bill 3, known as the Relief at the Pump Act, which Gov. Josh Stein signed into law on Friday, Oct. 9. Stein signed it at Hickory Nut Gap Farms in Fairview, in Buncombe County. The law temporarily suspends the state’s 41-cent-per-gallon motor fuel tax.
The tax holiday is slated to expire Nov. 30. The suspension carries an estimated $362.3 million price tag, and lawmakers plan to cover the lost road money with transfers from the state’s Stabilization and Inflation Reserve, an emergency fund created in 2022.
The law requires fuel prices to reflect savings from the suspended tax, but stations do not have to cut prices right away on gasoline they bought before the change. That means savings may keep showing up at Asheville pumps over the next several days.
The law also eases rules on the highway use of dyed diesel fuel for agricultural purposes, a change aimed at qualifying farmers and commercial loggers in western North Carolina and across the state.
