Without Measure P, Pacific Grove looks for new ways to raise revenue.

After 77 percent of Pacific Grove voters resoundingly defeated Measure P, officials are determined to find new ways to raise revenue – fast. Measure P would have levied a 5-percent tax on event and venue admissions, bringing an estimated $4.2 million annually to the city.

With looming infrastructure improvement costs and an employee pension fund liability, city officials say all ideas are on the table, including raising hotel and business taxes, adjusting fees, cutting expenses and pursuing paid parking near the coast.

Newly elected councilmembers Cynthia Garfield and Nick Smith were sworn in Dec. 7. They’ll barely warm their seats before the city launches into creating a two-year business plan by the end of January.

Mayor Bill Kampe says he expects the new council to consider an array of potential revenue solutions. “It’s probably not a single broad stroke, but a number of steps for closing the gap,” he says. He expects some money for roads will come to the city thanks to the passage of Measure X, a countywide transportation tax that prevailed at the polls.

City officials also expect Monterey Bay Aquarium officials to make good on promises made during the election to help Pacific Grove if Measure P failed. The Aquarium spent more than $100,000 to defeat the measure, which would have taxed Aquarium tickets, which run $49.95 for general admission.

City Manager Ben Harvey met with Aquarium officials on Dec. 1, but no specific plans came out of the meeting, other than to keep an “open dialogue” going. Aquarium spokesperson Barbara Meister declined to comment on what she discussed with Harvey.

The city is also “very serious” about pursuing paid parking near the water, Harvey says. The P.G. Planning Commission is scheduled to vote Dec. 8 on a local coastal program that includes plans for metered parking along Sunset Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard.