Joseph D'Amico doesn't doubt what Allegheny County's new 10 percent poured drink tax will do to the Dormont restaurant he's owned for eight years.
"It will negatively impact business. It will negatively impact the earnings for bartenders and servers," said D'Amico, 40, of Upper St. Clair. "The drink tax ... makes it easy for businesses to make a choice not involving Allegheny County."
So, D'Amico is making that choice. He plans to open a second restaurant a mile from the border in Washington County.
D'Amico's not the only one migrating. The populations of towns near the border of Allegheny County -- communities like Cranberry in Butler County or Peters in Washington County -- have surged in recent years as businesses sprawl farther from Downtown.
As County Council enacted the controversial tax Tuesday, a vocal crowd of restaurateurs and hospitality workers said the migration will continue.
A partner in the P.F. Chang's China Bistro at The Waterfront told officials he likely wouldn't consider a new location in the county. Another business owner compared the county's population -- which Census figures show has dropped 8.5 percent since 1990 -- to Cranberry's, which nearly doubled during the same period.
"Why?" asked John Graf, who owns The Priory, a North Side hotel. "Lower taxes, easier to deal with government, easier to start a business -- simple as that."
The new tax worries Terry Eberhart, whose Tarentum establishment -- Choppers Bar & Grill -- sits about 350 yards from Westmoreland County, which has no drink tax.
"I think you'll see a lot of mom-and-pop businesses close down, I really do. That's a heavy tax to pay for fat PAT drivers that won't even contribute to their own health care," said Eberhart, 44, of Monroeville. "We're going to have to put signs on the door (telling patrons) to not vote for legislators who passed this tax."
County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said the tax has not hurt places like Philadelphia, Cleveland or New York.
"It has not hindered their growth," he said.
McDonald Borough Council President Tim Thomassy agrees the impact will be minimal.
"People might drive a few extra miles to get a drink a few cents cheaper," said Thomassy, whose town straddles Allegheny and Washington counties. "But I don't think it's going to be anything major."
Mary Margaret Fisher of the Northern Allegheny County Chamber of Commerce is unsure how the tax will affect businesses located near other counties.
"Allegheny County really needs to take a look at the taxes it keeps proposing," she said. "The taxes do become daunting."
In Philadelphia, which enacted a 10 percent drink tax a decade ago, the once-controversial measure has faded into the background.
Some restaurant-watchers say taxes and the cost of liquor licenses triggered a boom in BYOBs, establishments where patrons bring their own alcohol. But the tax did not destroy the hospitality industry.
"It has had the same effect the smoking ban has had," said Mary Flannery, senior vice president of communications for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, "which is none."
Larger text
Smaller text
Print this article
E-mail this article
