Drivers Get Their 2 Cents In as Nickel-a-Gallon Tax Hike Takes Effect : Levies: Some motorists filled their tanks before the prices went up at midnight, but others were caught unprepared.

Some were angry, some resigned. But whether they liked it or not, all the motorists queued up at service stations across Southern California on Saturday began paying the new federal excise tax, which added 5 cents to every gallon of gas sold.

“The government already takes out so much in taxes,” said Tiffany Lee, 22, a model, who filled her Hyundai Sonata at an Arco Station in Los Angeles’ Koreatown. “It doesn’t seem fair that they’re going after more tax money. This much more we have to pay? With the economy so slow, it makes you think there’s something wrong with George Bush.”

The new tax brings the national average of unleaded regular gas at self-service stations to $1.41 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Assn.

While pumping unleaded gas priced at $1.45 per gallon, a 33-year-old municipal bond trader from Pasadena also lamented the uneasy state of the nation’s economy, saying that her husband had just been laid off.

“He’s an investment banker, and his future job prospects look pretty (bad) right now,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified. To augment the household income, she had to go back to work last week at a downtown brokerage firm after several months off.

The price hike will squeeze her family’s single income all the more, the woman said.

“I’m not happy with the tax, but what else can the government do?” she asked. “With the budget deficit so high, you can cut back, cut back, cut back, only so much. It’s ridiculous to think you can balance it without raising taxes.”

The tax is estimated to generate $5 billion a year, half of which will go toward road and public transportation improvements. Half will be used to whittle down the nation’s $250-billion budget deficit.

Many Ventura County motorists were not fazed by the tax hike, saying that they’ve learned to live with the steeper gasoline prices. Several people filling their tanks at a Shell station in mid-town Ventura said they could envision gas prices going to $2 a gallon.

“I’ll just keep driving,” said Nigel Thornell, 46, a medical lab specialist from Santa Barbara. “There isn’t much choice.”

Fernando Gamua, manager of Seaward Mobil in Ventura, said people initially were annoyed by a nickel-a-gallon state tax increase in August and since have accepted the escalating costs.

Still, motorists lined up Friday night at Argett Chevron in Ventura to fill up their tanks before the price hike took effect at midnight, said Josh Nudd, a station attendant.

On Saturday, “Some people were kind of upset and wished they’d come in last night,” Nudd said.

Pedra Salcedo, a housekeeper in Santa Ana who commutes every day from jobs in Newport Beach and Corona del Mar, said she fills up her small pickup twice a week, spending from $20 to $25.

“One day it’s $10; another day it takes $12,” she said.

In Chatsworth, Kim Oswald, 28, said she went to five gas stations looking for the lowest price before stopping at an Arco station. The price for regular leaded gas: $1.27.

“Some of us are barely making it as it is,” Oswald said as she filled up a well-worn Pontiac Bonneville.

More than the extra 5 cents per gallon, motorists seemed to be dismayed at having no say over Congress’ action to increase taxes in its budget agreement. Some were upset that President Bush has not been held accountable to his campaign promises of no new taxes.

“Everything he promised he was going to do, he hasn’t followed through on,” said the Pasadena bond broker. “I’m not happy with him at all. And I’m a Republican.”

Times staff writers Christopher Pummer, Kevin Johnson and Amy Louise Kazmin also contributed to this story.