In its second month of collection, Allegheny County's 10 percent drink tax yielded about $1.3 million with returns from about 70 percent of restaurateurs and bar owners as of yesterday, said county Treasurer John Weinstein.

Mr. Weinstein said returns for the tax, which were due yesterday, were "much cleaner" than the initial returns last month.

"The restaurateurs and bar owners are getting better. We contacted those that were making a lot of the errors last month, and we have seen an improvement in the filings this month," he said.

The initial returns last month saw about a 30 percent error rate, which Mr. Weinstein yesterday attributed to a lack of understanding of the guidelines and calculation of the tax.

"We found a lot of bar owners who were very appreciative of the fact that we reached out to them and explained to them how the forms must be filled out," he said.

The drink tax, and a $2-a-day tax on car rentals, were approved last year to help fund the county's $30 million subsidy of the Port Authority.

With about 85 percent of vehicle rental agencies countywide complying as of yesterday, the car rental levy -- which was due March 15-- yielded about $350,000 for the county, Mr. Weinstein said.

He said his office will not have a better picture of compliance or revenue totals until it has processed all of the returns from both levies.

In its first month, the drink tax yielded $2.57 million, while the car rental levy brought in $267,000, for a total of $2.84 million.