Aug 3, 2008 11:30 pm US/Eastern
Deadline Looms For Petitions To Repeal Drink Tax
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
The deadline is looming for restaurant and bar owners to turn in petitions supporting a referendum to repeal the county's 10-percent drink tax.
Tonight, an event at the Church Brew Works in Lawrenceville gave them the chance to get their petitions notarized.
Event organizers say they have more than double the signatures needed to get the referendum on the November ballot.
"It's been sort of a snowball effect where it has just sort of grown," said Betsy Pekar, a notary republic. "Truly, I did not think it would make it and now here we are, we're sitting here tonight with probably over 40,000 signatures."
Restaurant and bar owners in Allegheny County now have until Tuesday to turn in signatures.
"It's been a hard and long process the last six weeks, but we feel very confident we'll have enough signatures to get our referendum on the ballot in November," said Jeff Cohen, of the Western Pa. Restaurant Association.
"Maybe we need the tax," added Pekar, "but I think 10 percent is way too high and that's the main reason I got involved in this."
For the people the drink tax is hurting the most, this referendum and the chance to vote may mean whether or not their restaurants and bars remain open for business.
"Financially, it's beyond a hardship," said Linda Ransom, owner of Cliff's Bar in Homewood. "It's making me make choices. I pride myself on paying my bills, paying my taxes. This makes me make choices, 'What's more important? What needs to be paid?'"
If the drink tax isn't eliminated completely, the restaurant and bars owners at tonight's event say they hope that at least it will be lowered to a more manageable number.
Stay with KDKA for the latest on this developing story.
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