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Allegheny County Drink Tax
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T O P I C
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Discussion Started: 10-06-2000, 10:52 AM
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Allegheny County now has a 10 percent tax on poured alcoholic drinks.
It will help fund mass transit locally and allow the Port Authority to leverage matching state funds in Harrisburg.
What do you think about this?
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View Messages: [newest first] | [oldest first]
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Radiant345
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07-01-2009, 7:07 AM
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Is the new sales tax on snack foods an juices in affect yet?
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wpahiker
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03-16-2009, 7:03 AM
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eyeoh, great idea! Now, let's expand that:
- remove the cigarette tax and put it on non-smokers so they can pay for cancer research
- remove the gasoline tax and put it on PAT riders so they can pay for road repairs
- remove the school tax and put it on senior citizens to pay for children's education
- remove the property tax and put it on renters to alleviate the burden on property owners
I think you really have something here! Or, maybe a tax should be applied to PAT riders so that they pay a fair share of the cost of their transportation, rather than having their ride subsidized by the remainder of the populace - people who can't use PAT because it doesn't provide service to those who do not live/work in the city of Pittsburgh.
I looked into PAT once, it would take a 2-hr ride to replace my current 45-minute commute because they don't service communities outside of Pittsburgh. I would have to take a bus into the city, then transfer to another bus leaving the city - how bright is that?
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The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
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eyeoh
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03-12-2009, 11:06 PM
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as far as i'm concerned and i sent a letter to dan o.. who never replied to me about my sugestion that the tax should be put on our gas. this way the drivers who drive pay for the tax. maybe one cent per gallon added, i'm sure some limit can be looked at. this way the ones that aren't paying for the port authority use is the ones that are using it. if you don't drive, use the transit there is no tax. if you drive, then you pay for the tax. why make drinkers and restaurant-bars responsible..also do not vote for Dan in any upcoming elections... as Dan is not our man....
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digofer
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02-04-2009, 4:34 PM
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I don't live or drink in allegheny county, but I work around Pittsburgh at night. I have noticed that the PAT busses are headed to or at the garage by 2AM, the same time that bars are closing, and start rolling again at 4AM. The most unfair thing about the drink tax is that the bar patrons are paying for a sevice that is not available to them, when they need it, at closing time.
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slbhanna
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01-05-2009, 3:17 AM
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If you don't support it, don't drink there. I don't. Very simple.
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Krakus
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01-03-2009, 3:35 PM
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Kraken88, your analysis of the situation at PAt is both simplistic and blatantly partisan... not to mention unecessarily insulting. The poor management and board oversight at PAT pre-dates Mr. Onorato's tenure as county executive by decades. His action with the poured alcohol tax brought the situation to the forefront of the public discourse; and when the overproduction of revenue at the 10% tax rate was identified, that rate was significantly reduced.
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kraken88
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01-02-2009, 6:20 PM
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Face the FACT, Dan Onorato is less than honorable. Last year he insisted this Tax was only for the Port Authority nothing else, even when other brought up the fact he would use it to bail out country deficites. He's a liar and you dumb democrats keep electing these phonies to office. The new Port Authority contract doesnt save a dime. and give the highest paid drivers mor money. Onorato bragged what a good deal it was. BULL the authority should be abolished or the Union ousted. Change the contract-no retirement before age 65 and with a minimum 25 years service. No life long insurance-they can get supplimental to medicare like everyone else. Thats how the deficite is reduced and costs brought under control. VOTE ONORATO OUT AND DON'T SUPPORT HIM FOR GOVERNOR.
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Left Pa
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01-01-2009, 2:42 PM
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I just wanted you all to know that I came up to Pittsburgh the other day to see some friends and we had a few drinks at a local south hill bar. The total bill was $80. That included the, as it was written, 6% sales tax, 1% local agony county tax, and last but not least 10% agony county drink tax. I saw the bill and started laughing. It is so funny how absolutely pathetic the leaders in agony county and pittsburgh are. I'm so glad that I don't live there anymore. I do like to come up there once in a while so I get reminded as to how green the grass is on the other side of the fence. Happy New Year. Remember to also tip your waitresses. Ours got $20.
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genemingo
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12-18-2008, 2:14 PM
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What I want to know is, why do the taxpayers, Allegheny County or anyone else for that matter have to bail out the Port Authority? Get rid of that ridiculous premise, and there'll be no need to even discuss a drink tax. Screw Port Authority; let them get the funding from somewhere else, like their overstuffed pension packages.
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Krakus
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11-07-2008, 9:53 AM
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TerryGriff: Actually, several people, including myself, have noted that a tax dedicated to mass transit being levied on one sector of the retail trade not directly related to transportation could be seen as problematic at best. The point has been made that if one wants to encourage the use of mass transit, the tax should focus on alternatives that are less efficient in moving people from point A to point B. For example, how about an increase in vehicle registration fees, and on a graduated scale that imposes higher fees on less fuel efficient vehicles? An increase in the state gasoline tax has also been proposed.
The difficulty here is that these revenue streams are regulated by the state, and mass transit systems aren't that popular with voters outside the Pittsburgh & Philadelphia regions. Instead, the county could raise it's local property tax revenues by either raising property tax rates or property assessments (a primary revenue source), but the latter is then also utilized by both local municipalities and your school district (who by far take the biggest bite from your overall property tax pie, and, who, unlike your local municipalities, do NOT have a tax rate ceiling). It is surely a conundrum.
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