East Deer floats idea of amusement tax
East Deer is looking to cash in on future events held at the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. facility.
While details are preliminary, the township intends to establish an amusement tax. Generally, amusement taxes are imposed on admission fees to events. They can be either flat fees or percentage-based.
Commissioners Chairman Tony Taliani said with Pittsburgh Brewing Co. hosting events and future concerts at its Creighton site, it would be advantageous for the township to implement an amusement tax.
“Having done research on several aspects of municipalities that have venues that provide entertainment, they almost all uniformly have an amusement tax,” he told fellow township commissioners during a meeting last month. “The most simple scenario if you’re looking at it — buy a ticket for a Steelers football game, a baseball game, a concert — you pay an amusement tax to the City of Pittsburgh.”
Taliani said township officials and its solicitor are researching amusement tax ordinances in other municipalities.
Erie’s amusement tax rules, he said, “could easily be adapted to our needs.”
In Erie, a 3% amusement tax is imposed upon the price of admission to any amusement within the city. The vendor then pays the tax to the city within 10 days after the end of the event, or by the 10th of every month. Erie implemented the ordinance around 2006.
While Taliani liked Pittsburgh’s ordinance, he said it’s so thick it would be “overkill for a township like East Deer.”
Brewery spokeswoman Katie Henningsen said Wednesday it is too early for the company to comment since the tax is in the preliminary stages.
A Jimmy Buffett tribute band will kick off the brewery’s concert series June 29. The concert venue can hold as many as 6,000 people, officials have said.
With events that big, it’s logical to implement the tax because those people will heavily use township roads, infrastructure and other services, Taliani said.
The commissioners expressed interest in excluding charitable events and school functions from the amusement tax.
Taliani said the commissioners will continue to discuss the idea when they meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the township building.
Kellen Stepler is a TribLive reporter covering the Allegheny Valley and Burrell school districts and surrounding areas. He joined the Trib in April 2023. He can be reached at kstepler@triblive.com.
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