Jeff Slater runs the Brush Creek Inn neighborhood restaurant in Warrendale, a family-operated enterprise since 1886.

A few blocks away, Bob and Katie Malone have a banquet hall business in the converted Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church, now called The Camelot.

One interstate exit south, Don Mervis oversees The Stone Mansion, an elegant stone-and-stained-glass setting for fine dining.

Though serving very different clientele, these three businesses share one key characteristic: They each serve alcoholic drinks in facilities that sit just inside Allegheny County's northern border.

With county officials now considering a drink tax to help fund the Port Authority transit system, they also now face the prospect of adding 10 percent to their customers' bills -- a tax their Butler County counterparts, just minutes away in Cranberry, won't have to pay.

The tax would give Allegheny County a reliable source to come up with matching funds required by the state without raising property taxes. The state legislation also gave county officials the authority to impose a $2 tax on rental vehicles.

In an area where Port Authority bus service is barely evident, though, the prospect of adding to their costs to bail out the transit system does not sit well with the border businesses.

"If you're planning a party and you have the opportunity to save 10 percent simply by driving three or four miles, where are you going to go?" asked Mr. Mervis.

On Thursday, Katie Malone was preparing The Camelot for a business meeting the next morning. She and her husband, a certified executive chef, host everything from school functions to weddings to funerals in the stately hall.

"We deal with the average person," she said. "We don't deal with people who are going to spend $30,000. They are going to spend $10,000."

About to mark three years in business, they typically have bookings four days a week. If liquor is served, they charge a flat $10.95 per person alcohol fee. Add a 10 percent tax, multiply that by 180 guests, and the bill would grow almost $200, none of which would go to the Malones.

Her fear: "They're going to go to a place where they can bring their own alcohol, or someplace cheaper." She also says there's a new banquet hall opening nearby soon on Route 228 -- in Butler County.

Mr. Slater's late father, James, bought the Brush Creek Inn in 1975, the latest of a series of families who've run an inn, restaurant or grocery store on the site along the old Route 19.

In 1999, Mr. Slater shut down for six months to renovate the dining room and the adjoining saloon. Today Brush Creek has a woodsy, rustic feel, with the walls displaying old drawings of the hotel and mounted deer heads. Patrons can buy a 16-ounce draft for $1.75 and, at 4 p.m. every day, Mr. Slater buys a round for everyone.

From the vantage of his barstool, Mr. Slater wonders how the transit system's funding problems landed at his doorstep, handicapping him in a highly competitive market.

It also brings back troubling memories of Allegheny County's short-lived smoking ban, when his bar all but emptied for more smoker-friendly environs across the county line.

"When is it going to end?" he asked.

Mr. Mervis noted that border restaurants in Allegheny County already face higher property taxes than their counterparts in neighboring counties. But, to stay competitive, he says he can't increase his prices to compensate.

"If we're on the same level playing field, I'm very willing to compete with anybody. But take another 10 percent away and you almost get to a point where you question why you're doing business in Allegheny County."

As it is, corporate customers have been cutting back, he said. In December alone, Mr. Mervis said the restaurant may host 100 parties. Losing much of that business would hurt not only the restaurant, but also the 40-50 people he employs. "They rely on the viability of our restaurant to support their families."

In a competitive business, they resent the county putting them at a disadvantage while pitting them against bus riders who rely on public transit.

"If that's the only way to help these people, then so be it," said Mr. Slater. "But maybe if we put our heads together, we can think of something else."