Council passes drink tax

Allegheny County Council voted yesterday in favor of new taxes on poured alcoholic beverages… Allegheny County Council voted yesterday in favor of new taxes on poured alcoholic beverages and rented cars as part of the county’s 2008 budget.

All poured drinks in Allegheny County will now be taxed 10 percent. All rented cars will be taxed $2 a day. The council passed the rental car levy with a vote of 11-4, while the drink tax carried with a vote of 10-4.

County Chief Executive Dan Onorato proposed the taxes so that the county could provide its required funding to the Port Authority without raising property taxes.

The four council members who opposed the drink tax were Matt Drozd, R-Ross, Jim Ellenbogen, D-Banksville, Jan Rea, R-McCandless and Vince Gastgeb, R-Bethel Park.

The 15th council member, Nick Futules, D-Verona, abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest with the hospitality industry.

Dave Fawcett, R-Oakmont, who was believed prior to the meeting to be the swing vote on the budget, proposed an amendment to the drink tax, which would instead tax poured drinks at 5 percent a piece and increase property taxes from 4.69 mills to 4.9 mills.

“I think a 5 percent drink tax increase would raise a lot of revenue. It would get us through a year, and would be a lot more palatable than a 10 percent tax, ” Fawcett said.

When his amendment was voted down 10-3, Fawcett decided to vote in favor of the drink tax.

Scores of opponents to the bill spoke before the council, including restaurant owners, employees of Enterprise car rental agency and concerned citizens.

Many bar owners emphasized that this tax will benefit restaurants and bars on the borders of the county and cause restaurants to relocate to neighboring counties like Cranberry.

Tom Baron, owner of Big Burrito Restaurant group, which owns Mad Mex on Atwood Street, called the bill “a poisoned Band-Aid on a bleeding artery.”

“This tax is regressive, and it will take away jobs in the hospitality industry and hurt business in the area,” Baron told the Council.

Sean Casey, owner of Church Brew Works, a restaurant and brewery in Lawrenceville, brought a cardboard box before the council and called it “Dan Onorato’s Tax Box.” From it he pulled pieces of paper listing the results of the proposed taxes. “This is Dan Onorato’s tax box