What is the gas tax?

A state tax on gasoline that supports road-building.

The tax was created in 1921. According to a historical chart by the N.C. Department of Revenue, it has increased from one cent per gallon then to as high as 29.9 cents.

Based on the Dec. 31, 2006, rates, a nonpartisan research group calculated that North Carolina had the seventh-highest gas tax in the United States.

Amid rising gas prices in 2006, Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham led a campaign to roll back the gas tax. Graham's campaign collected 70,000 signatures over the Internet and held a rally outside the General Assembly in May.

In response, the state legislature capped the tax at 29.9 cents per gallon. The rate, which is adjusted twice a year based on the cost of gasoline, can go below that amount, but not above it.