Uncle Jimmy’s averts permanent closure

After closing its doors Friday morning, South Oakland watering hole Uncle Jimmy’s revived itself late Friday night. 

The Allegheny County Treasury Department temporarily closed Uncle Jimmy’s, on Semple Street, because the owners had failed to pay its alcoholic beverage tax.

In one lump sum, Uncle Jimmy’s repaid the county the $15,304 in beverage taxes, treasurer John Weinstein said on Monday.

“The thing with the drink tax is, it’s not [Uncle Jimmy’s] money. It’s the patron’s money that is supposed to go to the county,” Weinstein said.

Uncle Jimmy’s still owes the county $21,855 in property taxes, according to Weinstein, which the county is “actively pursuing.”

On Friday, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department enforced the decision to close the bar on Semple Street, changing the door locks and listing much of the property inside for sale. A sheriff’s sale — now canceled, Weinstein said — was set for May 11 at 10:30 a.m., according to a sign posted by the department on the building. 

According to an Allegheny County Health Department 2014 inspection, Susan Connors is listed as the owner of Uncle Jimmy’s. However, after multiple attempts Friday afternoon, throughout the weekend and Monday afternoon, The Pitt News was unable to reach Connors or a representative from the bar by the phone number listed on the inspection report, Facebook and Google. According to a 2008 obituary in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Connors is the late wife of James Regis Connors, the namesake of the bar. The Pitt News was also unable to reach Connors in person at the bar’s location, 418 Semple St. 

On Friday at 3 p.m., the door was deadbolted, the lights were off and the establishment appeared to be empty. On Monday at about 2 p.m., the door was locked, but the signs posted by the Sheriff’s Department were removed. 

Before it shut the bar down, the Treasurery Department “consistently reached out” to the bar about the back taxes from the time the bar missed its first payment to late March, according to Weinstein. 

The department sent a representative from the treasurer’s office to visit the establishment in person, sent reminders for Uncle Jimmy’s to pay its taxes and called on the phone, Weinstein said. 

Judge Robert Colville issued a judgment “about two to three weeks ago” that the Sheriff’s Department could shut the bar down, according to Weinstein.

Colville said Monday that while he likely issued the judgment, he couldn’t recall specifically signing the county’s petition to close the bar. 

Alongside the treasurer’s office, the two “executed on Colville’s judgment,” Weinstein said, and closed the establishment. 

Allegheny County is “very aggressive” about pursuing the alcohol tax, Weinstein said Friday. 

Allegheny County requires licensed sellers to pay seven percent of their total alcohol sales to the county. The Treasurer’s Department has shut down 48 bars in Allegheny County in the last year and collected $1.5 million in back taxes, according to Weinstein.