Jul 15, 2008 9:00 pm US/Eastern
County Council Holds Meeting Over Drink Tax
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
Allegheny County Council held a special meeting over the controversial drink tax this evening.
The lone item on the agenda was deciding if Council has the power to put its own drink tax referendum on the November ballot.
If Allegheny County Council has its way, residents may get to make the choice between the 10 percent drink tax or a property tax increase in the voting booth.
Opponents of the tax started a petition campaign hoping to gain enough signatures to put the tax up for a vote in November.
They say they want the drink tax reduced to one half of one percent, which would essentially eliminate it.
Today, Council started the process of putting its own question on the ballot asking residents to decide between the drink tax and raising property taxes.
"If we eliminate the drink tax, we're going to have to raise property taxes 20 to 25 percent," said Allegheny County Council member, Rich Fitzgerald. "Maybe the public wants that. I don't think they do, but I'm willing to put it on the ballot and let them decide."
"What County Council and Dan Onorato want to do is confuse people and say, 'Well, if we do that, then we're going to have to raise property taxes,'" said Kevin Joyce, of the Pa. Restaurant Association. "Not only is that untrue, they're unrelated."
No decision has been made yet, but Council says it is just a matter of procedure.
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