Nevadans pay more than we should for gas. You see this immediately if you drive down to Laughlin and then across the river to Bullhead City. On the Nevada side of the Colorado river, gas is anywhere from $0.50 to $1.20 higher than on the Arizona side[1].

But why? Both states are being abused by the federal government, which taxes us $0.184 per gallon[2]. On top of this, Arizona charges $0.19 per gallon (one of the lowest in the country). Nevada charges $0.23 per gallon[3], not that much more.

So what's really driving the extreme price differences?

Most counties in Nevada charge an additional $0.10 county tax, while a few only charge $0.05[4]. Arizona counties do not charge additional taxes on top of the state tax, however this seems set to change in Maricopa county as of January 1, 2026[5].

Is there some special reason that Nevada counties need to extract more money than in Arizona? Does Nevada have significantly nicer roads, or harsher conditions requiring extra revenue?

Or is this money just going into the pockets of well-connected contracting company owners?

In addition to the $0.10 county taxes, Clark and Washoe counties have something called an "index tax" which adds even more to your tax bill, indexed to federal inflation metrics such as the PPI and CPI. In Clark county, this adds an extra $0.26 per gallon to your bill and in Washoe, it adds a staggering $0.52 per gallon.

For this kind of money, I expect solid gold instead of asphalt. And as if to rub salt in the wound, these taxes were set to expire at the end of 2025, but were extended another 10 years in a 6-1 vote. County Commission Chair Jim Gibson was quoted as saying “We owe it to the people we represent to take a hard stand and do the right thing.”[6]

Gee, thanks Jim!

But there is also another “hidden” tax Nevadans must pay. While Arizona uses conventional gasoline, NRS 590.065, 590.070, and 590,080[7] force our gas stations to sell CARB-compliant “California Phase 3 Reformulated Gasoline”. They say it’s to prevent smog, but I’m not buying it. Nevada and Arizona are very similar geographically, including the “bowl” topography of our capital cities. I don’t see much difference in air quality for all this extra money we are spending.*

Nevada has no refineries of our own and buys most of this expensive and unnecessary crap from refineries in California (12% comes from Utah and is the same CARB-compliant crap). This gas requires extra refining steps that cost between $0.40 and $0.50 per gallon.

So, in our two big counties, Nevadans pay $0.40 or $0.66 per gallon more in taxes compared to Arizonans, in addition to being forced to buy extra expensive California slop, causing the final price to be upwards of $2 per gallon higher in some areas when all is said and done.

Why on earth do we put up with it?

Help us fight this (and other) authoritarian boondoggles. Call or write to your county and state representatives and demand that they repeal these unnecessary measures. When they promptly ignore you, register Libertarian (below) and donate to the Libertarian Party of Nevada (below) since we are the only ones with a passion for solving this and other issues punishing Nevadans.

*Phoenix also mandates a “boutique” gas formula, but it’s only around 4-8 cents more expensive than conventional gasoline.