Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
ROUNDED OFF GAS PRICES
ROUNDED OFF GAS PRICES. What was old became new again in 1989. In that year a four-year-old law that required gasoline stations to round off the price of a gallon of gas to the nearest cent came to an end. Without legislative fanfare, it again became legal to charge $1.18.9 cents per gallon rather than $1.19.
Gasoline station owners along Iowa's borders were forced to compete with stations in other states where rounded-off prices were not mandated. Although the difference in price, one-tenth of one cent, did not seem large, psychologically it affected sales.
Although the new law helped gas station owners disguise a recent rise in price, many gas station owners had difficulty to awhile getting signs and numerals to display the new pricing.
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Source:
"Gas Stations Can Now Give You Number .9," Telegraph Herald, May 20, 1989, p. 5