Senator Aims to End Fractional Gas Pricing

Minnesota state Senator Dick Day has had it with gas stations charging fractions of a penny for gas. If he gets his way and abolishes fractional pricing, stations will round up to the nearest penny, perhaps costing drivers an extra $1 per year. The article notes:

Iowa passed a whole-cent gasoline bill in 1985 that was well received by consumers, he said. In 1989, someone slipped a provision in another bill to repeal it, and it passed without committee hearings or debate, Gurchin said.

In Minnesota, computerized pumps dispense petroleum to the nearest 0.001 gallons and round the price up to the next whole cent when the number of gallons purchased ends in a digit between one and five. They round down to the next whole cent for digits between six and nine, Day said.

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