Ballot measures about drink tax thrown out

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The county elections board tossed out two ballot measures dealing with a much-maligned tax on poured alcoholic drinks, a levy enacted earlier this year to subsidize mass transit.

Three Allegheny County judges, standing in for the county elections board, ruled Tuesday that only county council can lower or raise taxes. The judges heard the case because the board’s regular members — county Executive Dan Onorato and county council members Chuck McCullough and John DeFazio — already stated their positions on the ballot measures.

The county enacted the 10 percent drink tax and a $2-per-day rental car tax in January to help pay its public transit subsidy. Restaurateurs and bar owners cried foul, claiming the tax was onerous on an industry already struggling in a weak economy.

Friends Against Counterproductive Taxation, an anti-drink tax group that dubbed its movement “Whiskey Rebellion II,” collected enough signatures to put a referendum on the ballot that asked voters to slash the drink tax to 0.5 percent.

To counter that measure, county council devised its own referendum asking voters to essentially choose between eliminating the drink levy and raising property taxes.

The judges ruled neither question could legally be put to voters.

The anti-tax group plans to appeal the decision to the county Court of Common Pleas or the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

“There were no real surprises here, but it would be nice to win one of these things one of these days,” said Kevin Joyce, owner of The Carl- ton restaurant and a leader of the group. “When you are fighting a governing system as entrenched as this Allegheny County government, it’s truly David fighting Goliath.”

Onorato said he was surprised both measures were thrown out “but pleased on the reasoning. They recognized the legislative body has the sole discretion on how to fund government, and you can’t overturn that on referendum.”

The county will review its options, but Onorato vowed to defend the county’s position against Joyce’s group.