HONOLULU -- Hawaii drivers soon will be paying the highest taxes on gas in the country, about 62 cents a gallon.

That is because an ethanol gas tax break Hawaii residents have enjoyed for the last two years expires at midnight June 30. That means 10 cents to 12 cents more per gallon at the pump.

The price of regular gas still hovers below $3 a gallon at a statewide average, but not for long.

Nimitz Chevron owner Barney Robinson and other retailers said their margins already are so tight they will have to pass on the tax to customers.

"Definitely with the tax increase, it will put us over $3 a gallon," Robinson said.

State lawmakers this year voted to let the excise tax credit expire hoping to add $40 million a year in revenues.

"The tax on gasoline will go up as of July 1. All of those funds will be used for improvement projects and of course that will employ people as well," Gov. Linda Lingle said. "Hawaii used to have the highest gas taxes in the country. Now, we are the seventh highest, but once the ethanol gas tax credit expires July 1 we go back to having the highest gas taxes in the United States."

Moki Opunui drives into town every day from Nanakuli. Opunui worries about having to pay more for gas.

"I am surprised and mad," Opunui said. "Gas is pretty expensive already."

After paying $53 to fill up his van, Mark Beatty is not happy either.

"You just add on all these extra taxes," Beatty said. "Yeah, yeah, after a while you wonder is it really worth the price of paradise."

With the price of crude oil increasing 100 percent in the last two months, drivers are bracing for even higher prices.