Four Allegheny County Council members yesterday proposed reducing the county's drink and car rental taxes through a referendum, despite a parallel effort by restaurateurs and bar owners.

Vince Gastgeb, R-Bethel Park, Matt Drozd, R-Ross, Jan Rea, R-McCandless, and Chuck McCullough, R-Upper St. Clair, sponsored the bill, which sought to reduce the alcohol tax from 10 percent to 0.5 percent and the car rental tax from $2 a day to 50 cents a day.

In addition, they proposed that voters approve a cap on the county's property tax rate through the same referendum, which would be placed on the November ballot.

County Chief Executive Dan Onorato has consistently said that if the drink and car rental taxes are repealed or reduced, he would be forced to increase that property tax by as much as 25 percent.

But, after a 9-4 vote, with only the Republican caucus voting for it, the bill was referred to council's Committee on Government Reform.

"This proposal is probably the most irresponsible piece of legislation I have seen in nine years," said council President Rich Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill.

Mr. Gastgeb argued that council should have used the opportunity to frame the referendum question, instead of the group Friends Against Counterproductive Taxation, which is mounting a signature-collecting campaign to put the drink tax to a referendum in November.

The group of restaurateurs and bar owners needs to collect some 23,006 signatures before Aug. 5, and all indications are that it will have more than that, Mr. Gastgeb said.

Given that council is scheduled to recess next week, and will not be back in session before Aug. 5, a council move to create a referendum question on the levies is essentially dead.

In other action, five council members introduced legislation to require group homes to register with the county before they can accept residents, but the bill was referred to the county Committee on Public Safety.

"The county's group home program is broken," said Councilman James Burn, D-Millvale, key sponsor of the Group Home Registration Program.