PITTSBURGH -- More than 40,000 signatures on a petition against the Allegheny County drink tax are illegal, according to a Wednesday ruling by the county's solicitor.

Allegheny County's 10 percent tax on poured alcoholic drinks was established to fund the county's annual subsidy of mass transit. County Solicitor Mike Wojcik said Wednesday that the county elections board should not recognize a petition from a group of bar and restaurant owners to ask voters in November whether to reduce the tax.

Watch the report from WTAE Channel 4's Jon Greiner

WTAE Channel 4's Jon Greiner reported that the group, called the Whiskey Rebellion II, has claimed that Wojcik is firing blanks, insisting that the petition is legal. The bar owners' petition calls for reducing the drink tax from 10 to a half percent.

"It was done perfectly in the way that the people who framed our government envisioned, and for anyone to suggest it's illegal is nonsense," said Kevin Joyce, a restaurant owner.

The county solicitor deemed the petition illegal, saying only a government can enact taxes and the petition violates the home-rule charter by leaving the budget unbalanced, Greiner reported. Wojcik also cited that the filings were not assembled as one document.

The County Council voted 10-5 in late July to put a referendum on the November ballot, asking residents if they prefer the drink tax or a property tax in crease.

Leaders of the so-called Whiskey Rebellion II said they didn't find the ruling surprising because he works for the county under Chief Executive Dan Onorato, who supports the tax. The county solicitor also ruled Wednesday that the County Council-approved election question is legal.

"It's not unexpected because we knew that Dan's attorney, who participated in the competing referendum, would say that ours is somehow flawed," Joyce said.

Financial planner Neal McGrath said the drink tax is costing him thousands of dollars in extra fees for client parties he throws about 10 times a year.

"I could have had a much nicer party if I found somewhere else outside of Allegheny County," he said. "The next big event I have -- and my colleagues feel the same way -- we're probably going to look elsewhere."

The county elections board is scheduled to rule Tuesday on the legality of both ballot questions. Regardless, voters can anticipate the loser to appeal to Commonwealth Court, which is where the bar owners said the issue was headed all along anyway, Greiner said.

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