SILVERHILL – Silverhill has stopped charging the municipal fuel tax in an effort to reduce prices residents and visitors are paying at the pump, Mayor Jared Lyles said.

Lyles said the Silverhill Town Council voted Monday, April 4, to temporarily suspend the fuel tax charged in the corporate limits and police jurisdiction.

“We obviously know gas prices have been rising and even though they look like they may be starting to normalize, the fact is that it’s hurting our citizens,” Lyles said.

He said the town charges a fuel tax of one cent per gallon. The full tax is charged in the station in the town and half the price is charged in the two stations in the police jurisdiction.

Lyles said the tax cut will not have a major impact on prices, but the suspension is something that the town can do for people travelling in the area.

Monday, April 4, 2022, the mayor and council unanimously voted to temporarily suspend the collection of gas tax within the town limits and police jurisdiction of Silverhill.

“We know it’s not going to make a huge difference, one cent a gallon, but just because it’s little doesn’t mean it won’t have some impact and that’s what we have available,” Lyles said. “We don’t have a lot of other things that we can help with, but that’s one thing we can do.”

He said Silverhill budgets $11,000 in expected fuel tax revenue for the entire year.

The tax suspension is scheduled to expire at the end of August.

“What we decided to do is keep it through summer,” Lyles said. “We know that some gas prices tend to stay high so the suspension will be a temporary suspension and will be over August 31. It'll come back into play September.”