MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- With gas prices rising across the nation, Marine Corps Community Services is fighting tooth and nail to keep as much money in Camp Pendleton drivers’ pockets as possible.
“The price of gasoline is always a concern on base, and the playing field is levied when compared to outside gasoline retailers,” said George W. Ladd, director of retail Marine Corps Community Services.
“A big misconception that most people have about gas prices on base is that we don’t have to pay taxes,” he added.
Military exchanges are not subjected to federal and state taxes for merchandise sold, but the sale of gasoline is different, containing those taxes plus additional ones.
“Federal and state taxes must be charged for gasoline, unlike every other item sold by MCCS, such as in the Marine Corps Exchange and Base Commissary,” Ladd said.
Mandated federal and state taxes make up approximately 40 cents per gallon under the Hayden Cartwright Act, 4 United States Code, Section 104. The gas stations also pay miscellaneous cost for storage, purchases and other factors that many people don’t know about.
“The reason we have these taxes is due to the patrons filling up their gas tanks and driving off base on federal and state roads; the taxes help repair those roads,” Ladd said.
With the tax in affect, another avenue of approach MCCS takes to keep cost down on base is surveying the local gas station prices.
“We have to take other gas prices into consideration when making the final cost,” Ladd said. “We do daily surveys of 31 local gas stations around the perimeter of Camp Pendleton to keep cost competitive.”
The cost is also changed on a daily basis from, the cost of crude oil and tankers bringing in newly- priced gas from the Oil Price Information Service, Ladd said.
Governing the price of gas, OPIS sends their prices through distributors. Since they are the gas providers for MCCS, the majority of the price is out of their control.
Comprising of more than 50 information specialists, OPIS is a comprehensive source for petroleum pricing and news information dating back to 1977. It is also a database of U.S. wholesale petroleum prices that tracks rack prices for different types of fuel ranging from heating oil to jet fuel. They distribute accurate, reliable and referenced petroleum prices via e-mail, web, fax, newsletter and 3rd party vendors, according the OPIS website.
“When prices change, it hits us immediately because of the amount of fuel that is sold,” Ladd said.
Camp Pendleton sells over a million gallons a month. With newly-priced gas coming in each day, it affects the whole base.
Salaries and equipment in mind, profit is a considerable cost in the price of gas; however, gasoline has the least amount of profit margin, Ladd said
“The Marine Corps Regulation requires us to make a profit because of the buildings that we provide, our equipment and manpower,” Ladd said. “We are not making the amount of profit that everybody thinks we are.”
“We are here to give our patrons the best possible price, the lowest possible price and still meet all the regulation we are required to make,” Ladd said.