PITTSBURGH -- Allegheny County bars and restaurants rang in more than the New Year on Tuesday.

They also rang up an extra 10 percent per drink they served when the county's new poured-drink tax took effect.

Some bars and restaurants sued last week, hoping to delay the tax, but a county judge said it would begin as scheduled at 6 a.m. Tuesday. The business owners had argued they aren't prepared to begin collecting the tax that soon.

County Treasurer John Weinstein said he might let the businesses pay the tax based on estimated sales for the first month until they get used to collecting it.

Some bars on the South Side, including the Smiling Moose, are making it known that members of the Allegheny County Council who voted in favor of the tax are not welcome at their establishments.

A poster in the window of the Smiling Moose reads, "County officials that want to tax you -- don't serve them." There are pictures of those county council members who voted for the tax, as well as Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, who proposed the tax.

According to the manager of South Side's Tusca, the wine bar had to pay $4,000 to fly in a consultant to install the new drink tax software and train their staff of 40 on how to use it.

"Flying them up for three days, putting them up in a hotel and just training in general," said Tusca manager Cheryl Primonato.

They had to also change the pricing on their menus, Primonato said.

"We had to upgrade to be able to handle the system," she said. "It was a complete upgrade."

Some smaller bars like Nadene's on the South Side don't have sophisticated computer systems. They said they believe it will take longer to get on track.

But how will Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein enforce collections of the 10 percent increase from the smaller bars that have no computer systems in place?

"The local bars that primarily deal in cash and not in credit cards are going to have to keep track of the drinks they sell, the bottles of beer they sell," Weinstein said.

But the county will team up with the state stores and the liquor control board to create a system of checks and balances to make sure the small bars are accurate and honest.

"I think for the most part, people are going to be upfront and honest, at least that's my hope," said Weinstein. "But we're also going to have data and information from the state as to the amount of liquor they purchase."

"I'd like to know who's going to bail the small people out when we go out of business or who's going to help us," said Nadine Voelker of Nadine's. "Why do we have to help the Port Authority?"

At South Side Works, Claddagh Irish Pub owners said they still are not sure if they're going to pass the 10 percent drink tax onto customers.

"We are the ones who take the full bearings of the tax," said Rebecca Rowland of Claddagh. "Instead of passing it along to our guests, we are the ones who might take on the brunt of it."

The tax is expected to raise $30 million a year to benefit the county's transit authority.

---

Related Links:
More County News

Get RSS | E-Mail Alerts

---