Seven weeks into Allegheny County's new 10 percent drink tax, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato is looking at other alternatives to the tax he implemented as part of a dedicated funding stream for mass transit.

In a Friday afternoon meeting with state legislators, county officials, and some restaurateurs and bar owners, Mr. Onorato told the group he would consider legalizing poker machines and other gambling devices in Allegheny County bars and taverns to create tax revenue that would replace the drink tax.

At the moment, poker machines and other games of chance in bars are legal and are often licensed by local communities, but they are supposed to be used only for amusement, not for gambling.

County and Pittsburgh police officials, who have received more than $500,000 in grants from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, recently announced plans to crack down on illegal use of poker machines and other gambling devices.

But in his meeting last week, Mr. Onorato echoed the sentiment of some tavern and bar owners -- that the machines should be legalized, and the state, county and city could regulate their use, thus collecting revenue.

"[Mr. Onorato] is looking at a number of options that we could take to Harrisburg for approval. Right now, we're in the planning and discussion phase. At some point, we will announce all the options we can take to Harrisburg as a replacement of the drink tax," county spokesman Kevin Evanto said.

Noting that Mr. Onorato will not replace the drink tax unless he has found another alternative to fund mass transit that does not include raising property taxes, Mr. Evanto said last week's meeting was Mr. Onorato's attempt to reach out to key members of the local hospitality industry who are still funding a campaign to end the drink tax.

Friends Against Counterproductive Taxation, a lobbying group opposed to the levy, is challenging the county's drink tax in court.

"[Mr. Onorato] is adamantly opposed to raising property taxes. But he has been saying for a number of weeks now that he wanted to sit down with restaurateurs and bar owners to talk about some other alternatives to the drink tax," Mr. Evanto said.

Approved with the county's budget on Dec. 4, the 10 percent drink tax and a $2-a-day tax on car rentals were implemented last month as a source of revenue for Allegheny County's $30 million subsidy of the Port Authority.

The initial payment of the drink tax is due Monday.

"We have all been meeting with restaurateurs and bar owners about what other possible alternatives we can come up with, and this idea [of regulating poker machines in bars] is something I would support," said County Council President Rich Fitzgerald, who attended Mr. Onorato's sit-down with restaurant and bar owners.

Mr. Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill, said he "threw out there" the idea of lowering the drink tax from 10 percent to 5 percent, "but it was just one possible solution among many others that we still have to consider."

For their part, the restaurateurs and bar owners who attended the meeting asked Mr. Onorato to consider a cap on the drink tax if it brings in more revenue than he projected and possibly scrapping the levy by the end of next month if other revenue sources can be identified.