State lawmakers will meet Friday with Allegheny County Council members to discuss alternatives to the 10-percent drink tax, organizers said.
"We're going to ask Harrisburg to see if they can help us out with that," council President Rich Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill, said about the controversial tax.
All legislators representing the county were invited to the private meeting, which will take place Downtown at 2 p.m., he said.
Among the options expected to be discussed are revisions to state law that would allow the county to charge some nonprofit organizations that own buildings a fee for county services, Fitzgerald said. The Regional Asset District tax, or RAD tax, could be discussed as well.
The leaders of council's Republican and Democratic caucuses said they hoped the meeting would be bipartisan.
"I do hope both sides show," said At-Large Councilman John DeFazio, D-Shaler. "We're looking for people from both sides of the aisle now."
"The opportunities are not embedded in party lines," said Councilman Vince Gastgeb, R-Bethel Park. "I just think we want to find like-minded people who want solutions."
County Chief Executive Dan Onorato or someone from his office will attend the meeting, said spokesman Kevin Evanto. A list of which state lawmakers will or will not attend was not immediately available.
Officials said they hoped to ask the legislators to consider amending the Purely Public Charities Act to allow counties to charge nonprofit entities fees for municipal services rendered.
"I'm sure that's what they want to do. Whether that's something that's achievable is an entirely different story," said Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, who is unsure if he'll attend the meeting. "I don't know whether there's an appetite to open that (act) up again."
Restaurateur Tom Baron said meetings like this -- or one led by DeFazio in November to lobby lawmakers in Harrisburg -- should happen more often.
"Certainly, from my perspective, the main thing on the agenda ... is to find a substitute for the drink tax," said Baron, president of Big Burrito Restaurant Group and a vocal opponent of the drink tax. "We don't understand why this wasn't done a long time ago."
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