The Allegheny County Board of Elections today ruled that neither ballot initiative on the drink tax is valid.

The effort by local bars and restaurants to roll back the levy is legally insufficient because only the county council has the right to raise or lower taxation, the board ruled.

The county council ballot question asking whether voters wanted to increase the property tax to compensate for eliminating the drink tax also was rejected. The board said the question was advisory but the law requires questions about taxation to be binding.

The board was made up of three county judges picked to replace the three-member board for this issue because all the regular members had already declared positions on the measures.