State court panel says Allegheny County drink tax legal
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A three-judge panel of the state Commonwealth Court on Wednesday upheld the legality of Allegheny County's drink tax.
The tax was passed by Allegheny County Council on Dec. 4, 2007, and immediately came under fire by local restaurants and patrons. A short time later, several, including Harris Grill and The Church Brew Works, filed a class action lawsuit, alleging the drink tax violated the state constitution. In addition, they claimed that its approval was invalid because one of the authorizing members on council, Charles Martoni, had a conflict of interest because he was also on the board of the Port Authority of Allegheny County, which benefits from the tax.
Both parties agreed to allow the matter to be resolved through summary judgment, and in March the Common Pleas Court upheld the tax's validity.
The Commonwealth Court, in a 19-page opinion filed Wednesday, agreed.
Specifically referring to the possibility of a conflict of interest, the court wrote that even if a conflict does exist, it is not remedied by nullifying the vote. Instead, it can be handled under the County Ethics Code, which allows for "criminal prosecution, admonition, censure, suspension, expulsion/dismissal and removal."
First Published February 9, 2012 12:00 am
