As if the pain at the pump isn’t bad enough already, the price of gasoline will increase 3 cents a gallon May 1.

This time, it’s because part of the state gas tax automatically increases when the price of gasoline increases.

The tax in Georgia is a flat 7.5-cents per gallon, plus an amount based on price. The part based on price is set on Jan. 1 and July 1 and goes up between those dates when the price of gas rises by more than 25 percent.

The price of gas has risen by more than 25 percent lately.

The rate of 10.1 cents per gallon that was set on Jan. 1 will go up to 12.9 cents per gallon on May 1, an increase of 2.8 cents, said Ken Heaghney, Georgia’s fiscal economist.

“It’s tied to the sales price,” said Brian Robinson, the governor’s spokesman. “It’s an automatic thing. The state didn’t vote to raise taxes.”

When gasoline prices were climbing in the summer of 2008, then-Gov. Sonny Perdue issued an executive order freezing the tax rate, saying he couldn’t justify raising taxes on gas when so many families were struggling.

Can customers expect a repeat from Gov. Nathan Deal?

Not likely.

“The governor believes an action like this, barring a state of emergency, is best taken in coordination with an act of legislation because it does have fiscal impact,” Robinson said.

“It’s not responsible to take that risk for a 3-cent tax issue,” Robinson said.

And is the tax likely to increase again before the next scheduled date of change, on July 1?

Heaghney said it takes some time to advertise the higher rate and get word to the state’s retailers. While there technically is enough time for another increase in the gas tax before July 1, he said he thinks that’s “not very likely.”