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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, suspending the collection of the taxes authorized by Ordinances Number 54-07-OR and 55-07-OR, effective in thirty days, and pending the execution of a new collective bargaining agreement between the Port Authority and its represented employees that satisfies the conditions of Executive Order 2007-1, governing distribution of revenue derived from Act 44 of 2007.
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WHEREAS, pursuant to enabling legislation passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly as part of Act 44 of 2007, Allegheny County Council passed two new taxes into law on December 4, 2007; and
WHEREAS, the first of these new taxes, imposed as a ten percent (10%) tax upon the sale at retail of liquor and malt and brewed beverages within the County, was signed by the Chief Executive on December 10, 2007 as Ordinance 54-07-OR, and is now codified at Article 808.A. of the Administrative Code of Allegheny County (a/k/a the “Drink Tax”); and
WHEREAS, under the terms of 53 P.S. 8602(A), enacted by Act 44, the Drink Tax was to be levied solely "to obtain financial support for transit systems"; and
WHEREAS, in March 2007, in response to mounting fiscal pressure, the Port Authority Chief Executive Officer implemented a broad series of changes to reduce management and non-represented employee costs, including, without limitation: eliminating 56 non-represented budgeted positions, including 20 management positions; freezing fiscal year 2008 salaries for all non-represented employees; increasing non-represented employees' health care contributions, freezing all senior management salaries; making non-represented pension provisions consistent with those available to union employees; restricting the buyback of previous employment time to only military years of service with a 10-year vesting period; and terminating lifetime health care for non-represented employees; and
WHEREAS, the current contract for represented employees of the Port Authority expired on June 30, 2008, and the Port Authority and its represented employees are in the process of negotiating a new contract; and
WHEREAS, in addition to these fiscal reforms, the Council and Chief Executive believe that funds derived from Act 44 must be withheld until and unless certain additional fiscal reforms are implemented by the Port Authority; and
WHEREAS, on November 26, 2007, the Chief Executive issued Executive Order 2007-1, which establishes that "the Allegheny County Manager, Director of Budget & Finance, and all designated agents are hereby expressly prohibited from distributing funds derived from Act 44 of 2007 unless and until" the Port Authority (1) restructures the costs for its represented employees consistent with the restructuring already undertaken for non-represented employees and (2) reduces its legacy costs;
WHEREAS, this Executive Order serves to create an unusable surplus to the extent that it prohibits the expenditure of any revenues derived from Act 44 for the only purpose that is statutorily permitted for those funds; and
WHEREAS, should the Port Authority never demonstrate compliance with the conditions of Executive Order 2007-1, the County will have collected revenue from the taxes authorized by Act 44 that can never be expended; and
WHEREAS, in light of the provisions of Executive Order 2007-1 and their effect on the County's ability to expend Drink Tax revenue collected, it is the judgment of Council that collection of revenues derived from Act 44 is inappropriate and unnecessary until the Port Authority can demonstrate that it has complied with the conditions of the Order; and
WHEREAS, Council has repeatedly expressed its desire and willingness to provide relief from the Drink Tax during the course of this fiscal year;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1. Incorporation of the Preamble
The provisions set forth in the preamble to this Ordinance are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.
SECTION 2. Collection Suspension
The collection of the Drink Tax is hereby suspended, effective thirty (30) days after the date of the enactment of this Ordinance. Further, the County's appropriation for the Port Authority pursuant to the Operating Budget for fiscal year 2008 is suspended as well, effective thirty (30) days after the date of the enactment hereof. The collection of the Drink Tax and said budgetary appropriation for the Port Authority shall be reinstated upon the approval by the Chief Executive and Council of a new collective bargaining agreement between the Port Authority and its represented employees that has been executed to restructure the costs for the Authority's represented employees consistent with the restructuring already undertaken for non-represented employees and consistent with the requirements of Executive Order 2007-1.
SECTION 3. Commitment to Price Reduction Required
No entity which is subject to the Drink Tax shall be entitled to the receive the benefits of the suspension aforesaid without making and adhering to a public commitment to reduce the cost of the alcoholic beverages subject to the Drink Tax by the amount of said tax.
SECTION 4. Severability
If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.
SECTION 5. Repealer
Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Ordinance.