Area residents welcome falling gasoline prices

Published 8:00 pm Thursday, June 21, 2012

With fuel pricing falling, area residents are feeling a little less frustrated when they pull up to the gas pump these days.

     This is in contrast to angry reactions over gas prices that rose as high as $3.79 on average per gallon in Mississippi and well over $4 a gallon nationally earlier this year. The current average fuel price in Mississippi for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.09, which is much lower than the national average of $3.51.

     Brookhaven/Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cliff Brumfield says the lower prices are definitely a good thing.

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     “As gas goes down, it keeps money in people’s pockets and reduces the cost of other items,” he said. “One of the factors that helps this has been the increasing strength of the American dollar against the Euro. It’s not always good for that to happen as declining value of foreign currencies usually lead to instable global markets.”

     Local residents are saying the falling prices are a great sign, which frees up money for them to spend elsewhere.

     Joyce Allen of Summit said the decline in prices makes her happy.

     “I’m glad to see it dropping, but I still think it’s higher than it should be,” she said.

     She said lower prices haven’t benefited her much, as the price of other items is rising.

     “Things are still tight for me because everything else is going up,” she said.

     Gary Kelly of Meadville said he still thinks prices are higher than they should be.

     “They’re a little higher, but it all has to do with the economy and what’s going on in the Middle East,” he said. “I think we should be tapping into our own oil in Alaska.”

     Kelly said around $2.50 per gallon would be a fair price, but pointed out that we are fortunate as Americans.

     “We still pay less than other people worldwide,” he said.

     Juanita Britt of Loyd Star was very pleased about the current prices.

     “I’m very excited they’ve went down,” she said. “I think things are getting better for us and we just have to be patient.”

     Britt said around $2.75 per gallon would be a fair price to her, but even the current price has helped her budget.

     “The falling prices have allowed us to do extra things such as traveling that we wouldn’t have done before,” she said.

     For Gaylon Brown of Summit, prices have been great, but they could be a little better.

     “I think it’s wonderful prices are the way they are now,” he said. “Dropping another dollar per gallon would be great, though.”

     Brown said $2 a gallon would be perfect for him, and he was optimistic they would continue to decrease.

     “I believe they’ll continue to fall this year,” he said. “I think it’ll get to $2.50 a gallon before the year ends.”

     Brumfield said the lower prices have had a positive effect on the local economy.

     “When a major portion of cost of living goes up, people are more conservative with their spending,” he said. “When that cost decreases, people have more money for other things and it creates consumer confidence.

     “Even putting a few hundred dollars into a family’s budget in a month does have a solid impact on our economy in a short amount of time.”