MN Gas Stations 7 1/2 Miles from the ND Border Exempt from Proposed Gas Tax Hike

That way, they can still compete with stations across the river

MINNESOTA — A proposed gas tax hike in Minnesota would raise the price by 20 cents per gallon, which would be the fourth highest in the country.

But that wouldn’t affect every city in the state.

A law in Minnesota would allow gas stations seven and half miles from the North Dakota border to be exempt from the tax increase. That way, they can still compete with stations across the river.

“Obviously we want our business community to succeed. The work the state has done to try to balance things on either side of the border is a good thing,” Lisa Bode, government affairs director in Moorhead, said.

“I feel sorry for anybody beyond that seven mile stretch because it’s going to affect them,” Brady Olson, owner of the Cenex on 8th Street, said.

“Gas is definitely more expensive where I live, because it’s so far away from everything. It’s already high, just to make it higher would be not ideal,” Georgia Nash, a MSUM student from Warroad, said.

If the tax increase passes, one of the projects that money would go towards is an 11th street railroad underpass in Moorhead.

“The city of Moorhead is neutral on how they fund it… that’s really the legislature’s role to determine how that funding would work,” Bode said.

Olson says he believes most of the infrastructure funding would go towards The Cities.

“Outlying areas just don’t have the need for the amount of stuff that The Cities need,” he said.

“Even now the roads have like huge potholes, I feel like they’re never actually fixed. Maybe not that high to fix the things I don’t feel like get fixed enough,” Nash said.

Some drivers in surrounding communities like Glyndon say if the tax does pass, they would go to Moorhead to fill up.

“If I’m rich, I don’t really care what the gas tax is because I can afford it, but if I’m poor, that affects me greatly,” Olson said.

He also says the government should find other ways to fund things.

“I think they need to look elsewhere and quit digging on these items as their tax base,” he said.

The gas tax bill has passed the Minnesota House, but  Republican Senate Majority Leader  Paul Gazelka is opposed to the hike.