Allegheny County's drink tax claimed its first victims yesterday when county sheriff's deputies padlocked two bars for failing to pay the 7 percent drink tax.

A third bar was allowed to remain open after owners agreed to pay all back taxes by Monday.

The closed bars are Todd's By the Bridge, Walnut Street in Versailles, and Crazy Karen's, Canal Street in Sharpsburg. They were padlocked by county officials on the order of Common Pleas Judge Robert J. Colville.

"I want to send a loud and clear message. We are done talking with people who have no interest in complying with the law," said county Treasurer John Weinstein, whose office is in charge of collecting the tax.

Mr. Weinstein said he ran out of patience with the owners of Todd's By the Bridge, which owes the county $50,000, and Crazy Karen's, which owes $20,000, after several attempts to collect taxes from the bars.

A third bar, Talerico's on Monroeville Boulevard, Monroeville, also was part of the judge's order, but the owner there agreed to pay $27,000 in back taxes on Monday.

Two other bars, Sports Rock Cafe in the Strip District and Matrix nightclub in Station Square on the South Side, both popular nightspots owned by developer Tom Jayson, were spared closure when Mr. Jayson filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 two weeks ago, Mr. Weinstein said.

The county, however, is now listed as the primary creditor in the bankruptcy filing, seeking about $200,000 in unpaid county drink taxes by both bars. Under Chapter 11, the county cannot close the bars, said Mr. Weinstein.

A 10 percent drink tax was implemented in Allegheny County in January 2008, together with a $2-a-day car rental tax as a funding stream for the county's subsidy of mass transit. The drink tax, which has been hotly debated and legally contested since the day it was implemented, was reduced to 7 percent in January.

Since its implementation, however, it's been a struggle to collect the tax from a group of about 50 bar and restaurant owners, said Mr. Weinstein. In October, the treasurer's office published a list of 44 restaurants and bars that had refused or failed to comply with the levy.

"It seems that some of these bar owners just don't understand that they have to pay. This is not their money. I will not let them perpetuate a fraud on their patrons and on the county," he added.

This year, the drink tax, which is paid monthly and is due on the 25th of the succeeding month, has so far yielded about $15 million in revenue from about 98 percent of the 2,200 eligible liquor license holders complying, Mr. Weinstein said.

Under the drink tax law, bar owners can face criminal or civil penalties for not paying the tax.

Criminally, they could face a $300 fine and 90 days in jail for each month that they don't remit the levy. Mr. Weinstein has decided, instead, to pursue bar owners under civil penalties, which include closing the bar and attaching liquor license.

Mr. Weinstein said he will soon start a county-wide audit of all bars with liquor licenses as mandated by the drink tax ordinance.