Since jQuery always seems to return the color like rgb(r, g, b)
for elements that have no alpha, you could simply use:
$(this).css('background-color').replace(')', ', 0.75)').replace('rgb', 'rgba');
Just make sure the background color isn't rgba already:
var bg = $(this).css('background-color');
if(bg.indexOf('a') == -1){
var result = bg.replace(')', ', 0.75)').replace('rgb', 'rgba');
}