WATERFORD, Wis. -- Steve Spitzer, owner of Waterford Pharmacy Station in Waterford, Wis., has paid $22,000 to Roettgers Co. Inc., owner of a nearby BP gas station, for pricing his gasoline too low according to Wisconsin state law, reported the Burlington Standard Press.
The state's Unfair Sales Act prohibits the retail sale of gasoline at a price below a legally defined cost, in which the cost includes a minimum markup of up to 9.18%, depending on whether a station is refinery or privately owned, said the report.
We thought that 6% [image-nocss] over the cost you bought it at is how we should price it, Spitzer told the newspaper. Pharmacy Station is in the privately owned category.
Unlike regular retail sales, the markup percentage for gasoline is figured on top of wholesale cost plus the various federal and state taxes, transportation and delivery fees, the report said. That creates extremely high gasoline prices, Spitzer said. For example, based on Tuesday's wholesale cost of gasoline plus taxes, plus the required markup, gasoline would be $3.35 per gallon. There isn't anybody that's selling gas for $3.35 a gallon, Spitzer said. There's no legal price around here.
Roettgers filed suit against Spitzer in Racine County Court in October 2005. Spitzer said his station was the low-price leaderhad the lowest price in the immediate areafor 12 days. Based on the established civil of $2,000 per day, Spitzer could have paid out $24,000. He said Roettgers settled for $22,000.
That $22,000 hurt Pharmacy Station and all of its employees, Spitzer said.
It's also forcing him to take action against other local stations, he added. Do I want to be suing other gas stations? No, Spitzer said. However, he filed suit against WH Pugh Oil Co. of Racine, which owns a station in Waterford, on July 20. All I want to get out of this are my attorney fees and the $22,000 I lost, he said. I need the people of Waterford to understand that I don't want to do this.
The end result will most likely force Waterford gas stations to raise prices to the legal minimum, said the report, since the station with the lowest price on a particular day (if it is below the legal minimum) can be sued by
every other station in town for $2,000 a day.
This is a game. This law is a bad law for the public of Wisconsin, Spitzer said. I don't know why Mr. [Dave] Roettgers did this. Who is it helping? High gasoline prices hurt everybody, he said. This law is absolutely stupid.
Dave Roettgers was unavailable for comment, said the report.
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