Something’s gotta give. That’s the message from Pacific Grove City Manager Jim Colangelo, who’s pushing residents to learn about the city’s budget crunch and help decide how to fix it. On the evenings of Jan. 24 and 27, Colangelo and Budget Director Jim Becklenberg presented the city’s fiscal woes and potential solutions to residents gathered at the Sally J. Griffin Senior Center.

Becklenberg estimates that the city will need an additional $500,000 to maintain current service levels through the 2007-08 fiscal year, plus another million to cover under-funded services and pad the municipal reserves. Over the long term, city officials aim to pull in an additional $3.6 million annually plus $1.1 million for the reserves.

The missing revenue has to come from somewhere, and the options aren’t fun: Cut services, raise taxes or assess fees in funky places.

Under-funded services include the city’s storm-water plan, street and parks maintenance, a boost in police and firefighter wages and a tree management program. Salary raises for police officers and firefighters are also a top priority, as evidenced by the four current vacancies in the 25-officer police department. “We just can’t get ‘em recruited,” Colangelo said. Pacific Grove’s lower-than-average police salaries may leave the city with candidates who are inexperienced or have shady service histories, increasing the city’s liability should green officers perform inappropriately on the job.

But the budget crunch is fixable, with some compromise. PG could save $1.5 million by trimming 10 percent off all city services, shrinking staff salaries by 15 percent, ending street and park maintenance, or closing the library and museum.

Alternately, the City could raise fees on municipal assets currently provided for free or at subsidized rates. According to Becklenberg’s estimates, more parking meters could raise about $1 million annually, higher golf fees $350,000, and a museum admissions fee $300,000. The city could also charge Monterey Bay Aquarium more for its lease on part of the tidelands, currently a gift at $1 per year. Finally, Pacific Grove residents may opt to raise taxes on business, sales, property transfer or hotel rooms.

Eighteen people in the mostly silver-haired audience of about 100 offered their thoughts after the Jan. 24 presentation. Suggestions ranged from hiking golf fees to shopping locally to keep profits close to home. Several speakers preferred cutting city staff to raising taxes; others said they’d gladly pay higher taxes to improve city services. Many agreed that the property transfer tax—a fee of $10 per $1,000 of value on homes sold—may be the best option. It would raise about $2.5 million per year and only affect homeowners who sell on the open market.

“All the easy decisions have been made, so we have to figure out what’s the best of bad decisions,” Colangelo said. “Something has to change. As a community, we can pick the change—or the change can happen to us, because it will be a crisis.”

Send direct questions to Jim Becklenberg at 648-3170. more info is available on the city’s website: ci.pg.ca.us/budget/budget_index.html.