California's gasoline consumption increased 1.6 percent in the final quarter of 2013, according to the latest fuel tax data released by the state Board of Equalization.
While that's a small percentage, it's a relatively significant bump up in an almost decade-long statewide trend of flat consumption. BOE said the percentage rise was the largest quarterly gain since 2004.
The BOE report showed that Californians consumed 3.631 billion gallons of gasoline in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared with 3.575 billion gallons used in the last quarter of 2012. BOE said the increase was likely a byproduct of increases in employment and generally stable prices late last year.
BOE estimated gasoline tax-related revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013 at $381 million in sales taxes and $1.4 billion in excise taxes.
In-state diesel use in last year's final quarter totaled 698 million gallons, compared with 653 million gallons in the prior year -- a nearly 7 percent gain that was the largest quarterly jump since 2005. Diesel consumption is generally considered an indicator of in-state trucking commerce, and officials said movement of goods was on the rise last year.
BOE estimated statewide diesel fuel tax-related revenue for the final quarter of 2013 at $245 million in sales taxes and $81 million in excise taxes.
Copyright 2014 - The Sacramento Bee