Elk Grove Mayor Singh-Allen, her City Councilmen are taking more cash from your wallet during the Iran War gas price spike
Elk Grove City Hall profits from your pain at the pump - As Excited as Col. Hans Landa!
The spike in gas prices are affecting motorist, and depending on the length of Mr. Trump escapades in Iran, there could be negative worldwide political and economic consequences. But it isn't all bad news, especially for municipalities that have placed additional regressive sales taxes on to consumer products like gasoline.
One of those municipalities who is profiting, at least in the short run from the gas price run up is Elk Grove. In addition to getting their share of regular sales taxes, Elk Grove has a regressive one percent additional tax levied on every consumer item, except food, purchased in the city.
Based on prices of $3.49/gal (a current price in lower taxed unincorporated Sacramento County) on January 5, 2026, and a price of $5.19 today at the same station, the city will be collecting 48 percent more on fuel purchases alone, because of Measure E based on steady consumption (see videos below).
If these prices remain constant for the next two months, Elk Grove will be collecting about $2,184 a day extra for a total of $131,040. They must be getting as excited as Col. Hans Landa at the prosect of these prices staying at this level for months, hell even years!
For those who complain about California's high fuel taxes, remember this: Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and her four city councilmen are adding to the pinch.
And never forget, as budget time role around in places like Elk Grove, elected officials Mayor Singh-Allen and her four city councilmen will be crowing about sales tax revenue increases and how they are such financial whiz's.
They'll need to be reminded this extra cash flowing into city hall is not cost free. Not only are they directly contributing to the escalating affordability crisis by burdening consumers, especially lower income families with a regressive tax, they have become war profiteers.
Below are sales tax and fuel consumption estimates. Conservative estimates were used for the purpose of this story.
Effects of Fuel Price Surges on Local Tax Revenue: Elk Grove Case Study
When gas prices climb, consumers feel the pinch at the pump—but for a municipality, that same price hike results in a direct boost to tax revenue. Using the City of Elk Grove as a model, we can calculate exactly how much additional revenue a 1% sales tax generates when prices shift from $3.49 to $5.17 per gallon.
The Daily Breakdown
Based on a daily consumption of 110,000 gallons of regular gas and 20,000 gallons of diesel, the city sees a total volume of 130,000 gallons sold every 24 hours.
| Price Point | Daily Revenue (1% Tax) |
| Baseline ($3.49/gal) | $4,537.00 |
| New Price ($5.17/gal) | $6,721.00 |
| Daily Net Increase | $2,184.00 |
Key Findings
1. Percentage of Revenue Growth
Because the tax is a fixed percentage of the sale price, the city's revenue increase scales linearly with the price of fuel.
$$\text{Percentage Increase} = \frac{5.17 - 3.49}{3.49} \times 100 \approx 48.14\%$$
The city experiences a 48.14% increase in tax collection from fuel sales alone.
2. Short-Term Windfall (60 Days)
If prices remain elevated at $5.17 for a two-month period (60 days), the cumulative impact on the city treasury is significant:
- Daily Increase: $2,184.00
- 60-Day Total: $131,040.00
Summary: A price jump of $1.68 per gallon generates over $131,000 in additional "unplanned" revenue for the city every two months, assuming consumption habits remain steady.
A reasonable estimate for Elk Grove retail fuel sales is about:
- Regular gasoline: roughly 110,000 to 125,000 gallons per day
- Diesel: roughly 20,000 to 25,000 gallons per day
Here’s the logic.
Elk Grove’s 2024 population estimate was 182,797 with 55,592 households, and the city’s average commute time was 30.8 minutes, which fits your description of a large, car-dependent suburb with limited transit.
The strongest city-specific number I found is from the California Energy Commission’s retail fuel outlet survey: Elk Grove retail stations reported 63,488,944 gallons of gasoline sales in 2024. That works out to about 173,900 gallons of gasoline per day sold at Elk Grove stations.
Not all of that gasoline is regular, of course. A California Energy Commission Petroleum Watch report said California’s gasoline mix from 2016 to 2020 was about 64% regular, 7% mid-grade, and 16% premium, with the rest effectively other reporting/rounding differences in the published breakdown. Applying that historical regular-grade share to Elk Grove’s 2024 gasoline volume gives about 111,000 gallons of regular per day. Using a slightly higher real-world regular share would put it closer to 120,000+ gallons per day.
For diesel, the best statewide benchmark is that California sold 13.4 billion gallons of gasoline and 3.5 billion gallons of diesel in 2024, but that diesel figure includes off-road uses. A CEC-cited planning document notes that retail diesel is about 47.2% of total diesel sales, implying retail diesel statewide of roughly 1.65 billion gallons, or about 12.3% of gasoline volume. Applying that ratio to Elk Grove’s gasoline sales yields about 21,000 gallons of diesel per day at Elk Grove retail outlets.
So the clean estimate is:
Elk Grove daily retail sales
- All gasoline: about 174,000 gallons/day
- Regular gasoline: about 110,000–125,000 gallons/day
- Diesel: about 20,000–25,000 gallons/day
One important caveat: these are best read as fuel sold in Elk Grove, not necessarily fuel consumed only by Elk Grove residents. Station sales can be pushed up or down by commuters, pass-through traffic, delivery fleets, and where major stations are located. The CEC also notes its city survey does not capture every non-retail or non-reporting outlet, so this is still an estimate, not a full census.
