Pumps Slower on First Day of 5-Cent-a-Gallon Hike in Gas Tax : Economy: Many customers filled their tanks the day before, but some are grumbling about the voter-approved increase.

San Diego gasoline dealers said business appeared slower than usual Wednesday, the first day of a statewide 5-cent-a-gallon tax increase, as motorists grumbled and shook their heads over paying an extra nickel.

“Overall, it seems as if prices are drifting up anyway. There’s been this gradual increase in prices, and now that’s being compounded by this tax increase,” said Bill Bleha of Carlsbad, who was filling up his tank Wednesday at an Encinitas service station.

Mark Ratoner, owner of a Shell station conveniently located off an Interstate 5 ramp in Chula Vista, said his usually thriving business, teeming with tourists headed to Mexico, was lagging Wednesday.

“Lots of people took advantage of the prices on Tuesday. Even if they didn’t need the gas, they filled up their tanks,” he said. “Business is slow now, but that’s only temporary. They have to come back and fill up eventually.”

Ratoner said Wednesday’s price increase is the largest one-time increase in gas prices he can remember since the 1979 oil crisis. “My customers usually don’t mind if prices fluctuate a few pennies up or down, but this 5-cent increase is pretty hefty,” he said.

The nickel increase in California’s gas tax went into effect midnight Tuesday, and a penny will be added each Jan. 1 for the next four years. Proceeds have been earmarked for the state’s transportation program to repair highways and bridges, ease traffic congestion and pour more funds into commuter rail transit.

“Our prices are so high here in San Diego anyway, it really doesn’t matter anymore,” Bleha said. “Whenever I go to L.A., I always make sure I fill up there.”

For the last few months, San Diego drivers have been paying higher gas prices on average than motorists in Los Angeles and other parts of the country, sometimes as much as 10 cents more a gallon. Now, that gap is closing to about 4 cents, industry analysts say.

Still, bargain hunters who shop around in San Diego will have a harder time finding good deals at the gas pump. ARCO stations around the county, which before Wednesday charged a thrifty 99 cents per gallon for regular gas, bumped that price up to $1.05, still stiff competition for other service stations charging as much as $1.17.

“We were extra busy yesterday (Tuesday) because we let our regular customers know about the increase. Lots of people came rushing in today to try to beat the prices, but it was too late for them,” said Letty Sanchez, a clerk at a downtown ARCO station.

“Some people were shocked, but they know they have to buy gas,” she said.

Vincent and Teri Campanaro, a Phoenix couple vacationing in San Diego, said they were surprised at the high gas prices they found in the area. “We pay $1.10 for a gallon in Arizona,” Vincent said, as he pumped regular unleaded gas costing $1.23 per gallon into his tank. “That’s a big jump,” he said.

Sam Cardenas, a traveling industrial sales representative who said he fills up at least twice a week and spends about $120 a month on gasoline, said he voted against the tax increase last June. “They should find the money elsewhere and cut the waste out of the bureaucracy before asking us for more money,” he said.

“Every time taxes are raised for what they say will be road improvements, it never gets done,” Cardenas said. “I expect our gas prices to do nothing but keep going up.”

Cardenas and other motorists are concerned that gas prices will continue to climb, especially since OPEC’s announcement last week of an agreement to raise prices, which could mean another dime-per-gallon increase.

Motorists ticked off about dishing out an extra nickel-per-gallon Wednesday said they knew the increase was approved but did not expect to see prices at the pump go up so soon.

“I knew it was coming, but I didn’t realize it was today until I heard it on the radio,” said Maddie Townley, a Golden Hill resident and regular customer at a downtown Shell station.

“I just hope the tax money goes to the road because we sure need it,” she said.

Carolee Ferguson of Escondido, who was filling her tank at an Encinitas Texaco station, said she doesn’t like paying higher prices but thinks the trade-off is worth it. “They’re asking for the money to improve roads and relieve congested areas. Since we are the ones who use the roads, we should pay for it,” Ferguson said.

Most San Diego service stations tacked an extra 6 cents, not 5 cents, to their Tuesday prices. “We’re having to add more than 5 cents to cover the federal oil spill liability surcharge and other taxes,” said Judy Eppler, owner of a La Mesa Chevron station. “We would have lost one-third of a cent for every gallon we sold if we hadn’t gone up that extra penny,” she said.

“Some customers out there have a feeling that the dealer is out to gouge them, but we’re at the bottom of the pecking order. We’re forced to pass on our extra costs to them,” she said.

Eppler, who has owned the station for two years, said she didn’t make her price change until mid-morning. “Once I switched the numbers on the sign outside, business slowed down,” she said.

Caltrans spokesman Jim Larson said the tax will enable the state to invest in a high-level transportation program. “People need to realize that the increase is for improvements to benefit everybody and to keep mobility on our freeways high,” he said.

Proposition 111 was approved by voters last June, and the statewide gas tax should raise $15.5 billion for the state’s transportation department over the next 10 years, according to Lisa Covington in Caltrans’ Sacramento office.

San Diego County should receive $518 million over the next seven years in highway and transportation money, said Bill Tuomi, manager of the transportation program with the San Diego Assn. of Governments.

That money will be used for construction of a $180-million interchange at I-5 and the proposed California 56 in North County, as well as to buy a $110-million tract along 40th Street in University Heights to complete a leg of Interstate 15.

Other local uses of the gas tax increase include:

* $22 million as the state’s share in creating a four-lane freeway on California 76, between I-5 and El Camino Real.

* $21 million to widen and fix California 78, from a portion in Vista to San Marcos.

* $22.6 million to widen bridges, put in median barriers and build park-and-ride lots on I-5, I-15 and California 163.

* $11.7 million to upgrade six lanes on I-15, from Oceanview Boulevard to California 94.

* $20 million to build truck lanes on various freeways.

* $17 million to build a traffic operations center and additional freeway ramp metering.

* $230 million to be shared by the 18 cities in the county for local street and road improvements over the next 10 years.