Taxman steps on the gas

ROGER MORONEY
Motorists reeling from an 8c rise in fuel prices can expect more pain at the pump as early as tomorrow when the Government lifts fuel taxes.
Oil companies blamed the latest rises - 3c a litre on Wednesday and 5c last week - largely on the plummeting New Zealand dollar.
Tomorrow motorists can expect a further price hike of at least 1c, when the Government imposes its first inflation-adjusted petrol tax increase, of 0.796c a litre.
Taxes will then account for 65.891c a litre, raising a call from the Automobile Association for the Government to offer motorists a rebate on a 17.5 cent GST component.
Havelock North motorist Neville Stewart is glad he flicked his old 3000cc vehicle; with petrol prices soaring to record highs, his new 1.8 litre car is much kinder on the wallet.
But he's eyeing the price increases with suspicion.
"Oil companies are just waiting for any excuse to hike prices ... it's just a matter of which one goes first," Mr Stewart said, while filling up at Caltex Karamu Road this morning.
And the record petrol prices are driving some Hawke's Bay people to penny-pinch on fuel, while others are spending nothing at all - preferring to tank up and "do a runner".
Whichever way she looked at it, Caltex Karamu Road manager Lynley Compton was finding the growing number of customers who were buying less fuel today than they were a year ago just as hard to deal with as the ever-rising prices at the pump.
And to make things even tougher, she and her husband were faced with a growing number of people who found prices so high, they were prepared to tank up and flee.
"We are getting more drive-offs now," she said.
"Usually it's the passenger who fills the car while the driver stays in his seat ready to go."
Other garages had also reported drive-offs, with many (like Caltex Karamu) putting stepped-up security measures in place.
BP spokesman Mark Smith said much of the drive-off threat had been minimised by video camera systems and staff presence on the forecourt area.
There seems little doubt that rocketing fuel prices - set to go even higher in the next few days - are behind the urge to gas up and do a runner.
And families already struggling with their budgets are finding things extra tough.
As of today, the price hit a new high (or a new low, depending on which way motorists wanted to look at it).
Premium 95 octane hit $1.62.9, while 91 octane edged up to $1.56.9.
Diesel, once the darling of the fuel price-conscious, is at $1.16.9.
The main culprit for the latest increase has been identified as the declining value of the New Zealand currency - dropping from US66c a month ago toward a predicted $US55c.
Both crude and refined oil are traded globally in US dollars.
The general consensus among the Bay's private and corporate motor vehicle users and operators was that people had taken a "you have to have it" attitude.
They continued to fill up as usual, although there was a growing move toward buying less fuel.
"We get more five and $10 sales now," Mrs Compton said.
"For some people it costs $100 now to fill the tank up, but they don't moan, they just pay." The price increases had also affected vehicle retailers.
But not corporate or leisure vehicle renters, Avis duty manager Kirsten Mitchell said.
She said leisure renters usually carried luggage with them and were travelling distances, so wanted a good-sized car.
Grant Miller, manager of Metro Rentals in Napier, said one thing he had noticed was that more people were now preferring to hire a vehicle for a trip rather than take their own. One regular customer who owned a Ford Falcon XR8 had on several occasions rented a diesel van.
"It worked out cheaper than taking her own car."
Like many businesses and fleet operators in the region, the Napier City Council had initiated a "four cylinder" policy - with no six cylinder or larger cars on the fleet.
"We monitor fuel use closely ... and even the heads of departments have four cylinder cars," council works manager Lance Titter said.
He added that as a result of the council's vehicle policies and usage guidelines the latest rises had had minimal impact.