Del Rey Oaks wrestles with potential tax measure – again – with developments still in limbo.

City Council meetings have a way of blurring together, but here’s one that really feels like déjà vu. On June 3, Del Rey Oaks City Manager Daniel Dawson urged City Council to approve a ballot measure for a 1-cent sales tax increase, with this bold report: “The city is experiencing an existing and immediate funding crisis.”

That’s the same language he presented to City Council last August, when the council narrowly rejected his request.

This time, City Council asked Dawson to return in July with a more detailed report showing how much revenue a tax hike would generate. The deadline to submit a measure for the November ballot is Aug. 8.

“It’s not the path of least resistance to recovery,” City Councilman Dennis Allion says. “We’ve got several irons in the fire to potentially raise more revenue, but selling [city-owned land] takes time. And we need to find a buyer.”

Allion’s talking about two empty parcels: 17 acres next to the Frog Pond that city officials had hoped would fetch a decent price as parkland, and 360 acres of the former Fort Ord. (The city’s already spent upwards of $300,000 on attorneys fighting the bankrupt developer.)

On March 25, City Council authorized Dawson to begin negotiations with Brad Slama of Cypress Partners for a possible RV park on part of the Fort Ord lands. There’s also the driving range behind Safeway, which has been available for lease since 2011. Tope’s Garden Center has begun environmental review on a proposed garden supply shop on part of the property.

“These projects solve the problem, but when?” Allion says. “We can’t sit around and wait.”