Junelle Lewis was on the hunt for a reprieve from Seattle-area gas prices driven high by the Iran war when an app on her phone gave her the answer: the Tulalip Reservation north of the city, almost a half-hour from her home. She didn't hesitate. "I purposely drove here just for the gas," Lewis said while filling up her Chevrolet Suburban at the Tulalip Market last week for $4.84 a gallon—about 75 cents less than prices near home. "Gas is ridiculous." Lewis isn't the only driver who has discovered that some of cheapest fuel can be found on Native American reservations, the AP reports.
Especially in California, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, and Washington state—places with dozens of tribally owned stations, including some in busy travel corridors—tribes exempt from state fuel taxes can sell for much less than competing stations nearby. Apps such as Gas Buddy make finding the cheapest gas easier. Nationwide, gasoline prices have risen by well over $1 since the Iran war began Feb. 28, reaching an average of $4.15 a gallon, according to AAA. Prices have been higher, topping $5 during the summer of 2022, but economists believe they will continue heading up and contribute to inflation in the weeks ahead as geopolitical tension persists. Deals are to be found, though, at many of the almost 500 tribally owned convenience stores with gas stations across the US.
Fifty-five are in California. At the Chukchansi Crossing Fuel Station & Travel Center between Fresno and Yosemite National Park, the $5.09 gas was 60 cents less than nearby stations. New Mexico resident Jamie Cross usually finds savings on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, where gas was as low as $3.79 last week. In eastern New York state, on Cattauragus Indian Territory between Buffalo and Erie, Pennsylvania, the cheapest gas was about $3.65 at more than a half-dozen stations—50 cents less than in towns nearby. Tax exemptions are the reason.
Generally, tribes must pay the federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.3 cents per gallon for diesel, then pass that cost along to drivers. State fuel taxes are a different matter. For well over a century, US courts have found that states don't have authority to collect taxes from Native Americans on their land, said Dan Lewerenz, who specializes in Native American law at the University of North Dakota. "The Supreme Court consistently held to this view and it's one of the most enduring principles in federal Indian law," Lewerenz said. Federally recognized Native American tribes are in 35 states with state gasoline taxes ranging from 9 cents per gallon in Alaska to 71 cents in California.
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