As wholesale prices dip, gas groups watch for drop in fuel prices

<p>A moratorium on gas taxes and a slight dip in wholesale prices have leveled fuel prices in Georgia to an average of $3.05 per gallon but has prompted concerns that some retailers' prices may not reflect that drop.</p><p>On Monday, the president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores reminded the group's 2,600 members to pass the savings to Georgia motorists.</p><p>"You cannot decide to just pass on the tax decrease and not pass on the decreased wholesale costs," Jim Tudor said in an e-mail to the group.</p><p>The fuel industry has been a favorite target of jaded motorists and irate politicians since last week, when gas prices skyrocketed to as high as $6 a gallon after Hurricane Katrina disrupted gas shipments from the Gulf Coast. Long lines of anxious drivers crowded gas stations in rural towns and suburban neighborhoods alike and widespread outages inspired an almost panicked rush to fill tanks.</p><p>On Friday, Gov. Sonny Perdue ordered a monthlong moratorium on state gas taxes and called legislators into a special session Tuesday to ratify the decision. The governor's order suspends Georgia's 7.5 cents-a-gallon excise tax and 4 percent sales tax on gasoline until the end of September.</p><p>He also signed an executive order authorizing state sanctions against gas stations that gouge consumers.</p><p>Since then, the Georgia Office of Consumer Affairs has been flooded by more than 700 e-mails and phone calls from motorists reporting suspected gouging incidents, said spokesman Bill Cloud. To help track the reports, Perdue spokesman Dan McLagan said the governor's office will set up a Web site allowing concerned residents to report gouging.</p><p>Other politicians have tried to take matters into their own hands.</p><p>In Smyrna, Mayor Max Bacon wrote a letter to the city's 20 or so gas stations demanding that operators roll back prices to the level they were at Aug. 30, before the rush to gas stations set in. If not, the mayor threatened to haul owners in to a city council meeting Tuesday.</p><p>"They created this mass hysteria and jacked the prices up. Can you imagine how much money they made?" the mayor told the Associated Press. "Nobody is holding anybody accountable. That's what fries my rear end. Hopefully, retailers will do the right thing and roll back the prices."</p><p>Yet retailers said a commonsense approach was taken behind some of the increases.</p><p>Some gas station operators didn't know when their next shipment of gas would arrive and may have priced their gas high so they could still hang on to some fuel the next day to lure customers into their convenience store, said Randy Rogers, who owns a gas station in Atlanta.</p><p>Other gas station owners _ particularly independent retailers _ were warned by suppliers that their next shipment would cost thousands more and priced their fuel to offset that hike.</p><p>The best thing for Georgia drivers to do is not to panic, said Cloud.</p><p>"Cool your jets. When you run your errands, run them all one time. And be a little bit strategic," Cloud said. "Try to conserve a little bit and I think we're going to be just fine."</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdccf0)</p><p>HASH(0x1cdee94)</p>