These 55 fuel stations let you circumvent California's high gas prices

Nearly five million California drivers are expected to travel before Memorial Day weekend as gas prices rise. California’s gas taxes include substantial additional levies, including a 2017 voter-approved increase for transit and road repairs. Fifty-five fuel stations are owned and operated by sovereign Native American tribes, and their pumps are not technically located on California land. Because tribes are excluded from paying certain taxes, they can set their own tax structures under a 1999 agreement and keep the revenue. Examples include Pem-Mey Fuel Mart near Redwood National and State Parks and a station at Coyote Valley Casino near Ukiah, both charging less than the state average. Tribal representatives say the fuel is essentially the same for consumers and that stations coordinate to pump correctly.

"Nearly 5 million California drivers are expected to travel the roads ahead of Memorial Day weekend, and with the average gallon of gas costing $6.15 in mid-May, feeling a pinch at the pump seems inevitable. But there is one way to circumvent California's unusually high gas taxes - you just have to temporarily step outside state jurisdiction."

"There are 55 fuel stations sprinkled throughout the state that are owned and operated by sovereign Native American tribes. Since the pumps are not technically on California land, their prices are often much lower than those at other stations. Last week, a regular gallon at the Pem-Mey Fuel Mart in Klamath near Redwood National and State Parks was $5.69 - more than 50 cents cheaper than the state average."

"California has some of the nation's heftiest additional levies for gas, including an extra 12 cents per gallon that voters approved in 2017 to fund transit and road repairs. Tribes, however, are excluded from paying certain taxes. An agreement in 1999 let them set their own tax structures and keep the revenue. "We're exempt from the California state fuel tax, and we pass those savings along," said Raymond Bacon, executive director of the Yurok Economic Development Corporation."

"Stephanie Hicks, speaking on behalf of the advocacy group Visit California Tribes, said gasoline from a tribal station is essentially the same as at any other station, and there's no difference for the consumer. "Some critics may say it's not regulated by the state and doesn't adopt the same standards. Or that it's not regulated by weights and measurements. But most stations coordinate with their weight stations in local stations to pump out correctly," she said. "It's not rogue.""

Read at SFGATE