Pacific Grove weighs sales tax increase on the November ballot.

In pre-pandemic times, the Pacific Grove City Council appeared to be confidently heading for a ballot measure in the November 3 election proposing to raise its sales tax from 8.75 percent to 9.25 percent. Covid-19 has cooled their enthusiasm, but it appears a majority of the council is still willing to give it a try.

In November there was a debate around whether to spend $25,000 on a survey to see what the voters' appetites were for such a measure, but as soon as Mayor Bill Peake suggested the election was itself the survey, the council dropped that idea to save the money.

They did not drop the ballot measure idea, however, as they watched their neighbors in Monterey and Carmel successfully pass similar measures by wide margins on March 3, the primary election, increasing their sales taxes to 9.25 percent. It leaves P.G. as the lone city on the Monterey Peninsula with an 8.75-percent sales tax.

As fate would have it, not spending money on a survey turned out to be a good thing for Pacific Grove, since the city's revenue's have dropped significantly during shelter-in-place and voter support may have waned.

That potential change in voters' mindsets is why Peake has cooled to the idea of a ballot measure in November, calling it "bad timing" during the council meeting on May 20. Pre-pandemic, the measure had a good chance of passing but not now, he said.

The rest of the council was in favor of pushing ahead with a measure, possibly with the provision of a later start date in hopes that the pandemic will be mostly over and the economy in better shape. Mid-2021 was an idea that seemed to have the most traction, including with Peake who said he'd prefer a waiting period if it passed in November.

Councilmember Cynthia Garfield pointed out that an estimated 70 percent of the city's sales tax is paid by visitors, which in part made her "less ambivalent" about increasing the tax. Councilmember Amy Tomlinson said the fact the city was going to need a new revenue source was influencing her support.

The council directed City Manager Ben Harvey to come back with a proposed ballot measure to a meeting in June for a vote on whether to proceed to November and what the exact wording might be.