What is the drink tax really worth?

The city council is once again making an attempt to placate voters seething over the drink… The city council is once again making an attempt to placate voters seething over the drink tax.

The 10 percent tax on alcohol served in bars across the city was enacted to keep transit services, most visibly the bus system, intact. Recent council debate has considered putting a referendum to voters in November asking them to choose between keeping the drink tax as is or reducing it to 0.5 percent while increasing property taxes.

The tax has been attacked on the basis that it hurts small businesses the most and puts a major crimp in Pittsburghers’ lifestyles. I’m not arguing that. I’m with everyone else in that I hate paying more for things. I don’t like having to pay an extra dime on a dollar beer any more than the next guy.

However, I’m a little bit curious: What would be worth paying a little extra every time I got an alcoholic drink? Maybe I’m not so hot on paying 10 percent more to save the 28X, but what if, for example, I could get something better in exchange for my sin tax?

What if the 64A came on time every time? I think that would be worthwhile. It seems I’m always waiting around for the 64A. I’d pay the extra dime without a worry, because I know that everyone else in the bar is paying too, even though they probably don’t ride that bus.

Maybe that’s a little selfish of me. What else would be worth a dime a drink, or maybe four dimes on one of those tasty smoothie Long Islands at Spice Cafe? Maybe a free taco stand outside Hillman. I love tacos. Who doesn’t love tacos? Have you ever met anyone who just exploded on a walk to class, ‘I can’t stand effin tacos!’ Maybe to even things out for other Pittsburghers, we could put free taco stands in every neighborhood and two of them Downtown.

Then again, I’m guessing even with all the tax money generated by drinkers in Oakland, the free tacos would still run out too quickly. We could probably try for something more permanent.

What about a frequent-service light-rail line that ran from Downtown out to points beyond East Liberty, Squirrel Hill and Homestead? That would be worth it. In fact, that might be a little too worth it. Maybe that’s too much for a dime on every Blue Moon at Hemingway’s on Wednesday.

I’d even be OK with paying 20 cents on every dollar. But as long as we’re increasing the tax, why not go all out? Hell, I’d pay a dollar on top of every dollar drink, a 100 percent drink tax, if the city put in a subway instead a light rail line.

I’m not sure how easy that would be with all the hills and rivers and such, but hey, the Bore to the Shore was able to drill under the Allegheny River and add 1.2 miles to the already 25-mile-long track. So a subway isn’t impossible, is it? The best part is, the Bore job only cost $435 million. Think of all the people it’s helping now!

Or what about keeping Schenley High School open? I’ve never been there, but I’ve walked by it. I’ve seen high schoolers leaving around 3 p.m., so I’m pretty sure they were in there during the day learning stuff. You know, geography, arithmetic and history. I’m no expert on Schenley High School, but I remember I liked English and science class when I was in high school. How much would it be worth on every drink to keep the high school open?

How much would it be worth on every drink to make Pittsburgh schools the best in the nation? Barring objections that it would be so difficult to mobilize the effort, the resources and so on, how much would it be worth to tack on each drink if it meant that every student’s potential was maximized and that he or she didn’t have to worry about what was going to happen after graduation because of the huge array of possibilities opened by a top-notch education.

If I paid twice as much for each drink and normally paid $100 on alcohol in a year, which is a laughably low estimate, there is the point that I would have to pay $200 with the new educational tax. And I hate paying more money than I have to pay. But maybe there are some things worth more than an extra dollar on top of a $1 beer? Maybe there are some things that I like more, that are a valuable trade-off for a dime on a drink or less than a dollar a night?

Maybe there are some things that are just worth too much to seethe over.

E-mail Dan at dmv17@pitt.edu.