More Drink Tax Debate

Well, there's another court hearing regarding the drink tax today. You can read a snippet about it from the Post Gazette. In a nutshell, they (restaurant owners and a councilman - Charles McCullough) are trying to stop my most hated person, Dan Onorato, from using funds collected by the drink tax for anything other than the Port Authority. Did you know that the drink tax collected 16 million dollars more than what was needed for the Port Authority? Crazy. I'm hoping that this makes something else happen. And I wouldn't mind it if it made Dan Onorato cry a little.

After owning the restaurant for seven months now, I have realized that there really isn't money in this business. Don't get me wrong, we are able to pull a salary - enough to pay our bills and the extra mortgage on the house that we got so we could buy the bar. But what's crazy is the sheer amount of money that needs to go OUT. Our electric bill is about $2,000 a month. Gas is about the same. Payroll is crazy. Insurance? Holy crap. Liquor liability insurance is completely insane! Then there's our health insurance! We picked some crappy tier with UPMC, and Tony has a $2500 deductible per year. I've been reading a lot of restaurant-owner-related-crap, and for every $1 in sales, owners are lucky to see about a nickel. That seems about right. But I really don't think that other people realize that.

All in all, though, Tony LOVES having the restaurant. And his happiness is worth it. And we won't be living in a van down by the river any time soon. Tony is one of the hardest working people I know, and considering the economic times, the restaurant is doing really well.

How about that for a venting session? :::takes deep breath::: I feel better now :)