News
Iowans Nine-Tenths Ready For Whole-Cent Gas Pricing
AP

06/12/1985
The Omaha World-Herald
Metro
(Copyright 1985 Omaha World-Herald Company)

A new Iowa law requires gasoline to be sold in whole-cent prices, but most
gas stations apparently haven't gotten the word.

"I've been wondering when they were going to comply,'' said Sen. Joe
Coleman, D-Clare, who sponsored legislation banning the traditional
marketing method of adding nine-tenths of a cent to the price per gallon.

The answer, apparently, is next Monday, at least for many stations.

E.A. Kistenmacher, managing director of Petroleum Marketers of Iowa, said he
has targeted next Monday as the date to begin complying with the law even
though it officially went on the books May 16.

Most new laws go into effect on July 1, but those with "publication
clauses,'' in which the texts are published in two newspapers, go into
effect upon publication. The law in question was published in two small
papers in May but the Secretary of State's Office did not receive copies
until last week, thus delaying certification.

Still, dealers using the nine-tenths marketing technique are violating the
law. Violators could receive a $100 fine or spend a month in jail, but James
O'Connor, supervisor of the Department of Transportation weights and
measures department, said prosecution is unlikely.

Dealers will comply, he said, once they find out about the law. To that end,
the DOT will make a mass mailing, he said.

Most dealers are expected to round off the price to the next highest cent,
thus giving them another tenth of a cent per gallon. That's not much on a
20-gallon fillup, but across the state, dealers sell about 1.5 billion
gallons a year, meaning there will be an extra $1.5 million profit.

Coleman said some dealers may round down instead. But even if all dealers
tack on an extra tenth, he said, the law is still a good one, since it will
end confusion at the pumps.

"We don't have a one-tenth cent coin,'' he said. "It just bugged me for
years.''