Within a few hours of publishing a list of 44 restaurants and bars that have refused or failed to comply with Allegheny County's 10 percent drink tax yesterday, county Treasurer John Weinstein got a visit from the proprietor of Mahoney's Restaurant, Downtown.

"He rushed in here with a check and paid up all the four months that he owed," Mr. Weinstein said. That is the reaction he was going for, he said, when he published the list of scofflaws on the county's Web site: www.alleghenycounty.us/treasure/AlcoholTax/Delinquent-Weblist.pdf.

"It's not so much about shaming the offenders, but to let the public know that these establishments are collecting the drink tax, and yet they are not paying what they owe," he said, adding that the noncompliant restaurateurs and bar owners account for about $500,000 in uncollected drink tax revenues.

By publicizing the scofflaws, much the same way the state does with businesses that don't pay the state sales tax, Mr. Weinstein said, he has started a process that could see the county file suit against all of the offenders in Common Pleas Court. The county would seek to attach a civil judgment or collection notice against their state-issued liquor licenses.

The controversial drink tax, which was approved by County Council in December as part of a dedicated funding stream for mass transit, is the subject of a legal challenge that could go all the way to the state Supreme Court.

Attorneys for a group of restaurant and bar owners who oppose the levy and want to reduce it to 0.5 percent through a referendum will make oral arguments in Commonwealth Court on Monday in an effort to get their referendum question on the November ballot.

So far, the drink tax, which is paid monthly and is due on the 25th of the succeeding month, has yielded about $25 million in revenue from about 98 percent of the 2,200 eligible liquor license holders complying.

Mr. Weinstein said his collection efforts seem to be paying off. Since he announced his plans to publish the list of scofflaws, 11 of them contacted his office to settle their debts. As of yesterday, Mahoney's Restaurant, 949 Liberty Ave., became the 12th establishment to settle its unpaid debt for the months of March, June, July and August.

Officials at the restaurant couldn't be reached for comment.

According to the treasurer's office, some of the delinquent businesses paid the tax earlier in the year but are not paying now and others have never paid it.