Census to Decide Transit Funding : Transportation: The method breaks the county’s 20-year policy. It means gains for some cities, losses for others.

Despite strong objections from some officials, the Ventura County Transportation Commission on Friday voted to rejuggle the way that state transportation funds are allocated to the county and its 10 cities.

The commission voted to use new 1990 census figures rather than older population data to apportion $14 million in state funds earmarked for the county in 1991-92--a decision that will mean significant monetary increases for some cities and large losses for others.

The city of Oxnard will be the biggest beneficiary, receiving an additional $238,000. Camarillo will gain about $62,000, Santa Paula, $22,000, and Fillmore, $10,000.

The county, on the other hand, will experience the largest drop in funding, an estimated $206,000. The cities of Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley will each lose about $40,000, while Moorpark and Ojai each will see a drop of about $10,000. The city of Ventura will lose about $900.

After much debate, the transportation commission voted 4 to 3 to apportion funds based on 1990 population figures provided by the U.S. Census Bureau in March rather than those provided by the state Department of Finance in January.

Commission members Vicky Howard and Susan K. Lacey, both members of the County Board of Supervisors, and Frank Schillo, mayor of Thousand Oaks, vehemently opposed the move. They said it went against the county’s 20-year history of using population figures certified every January by the Department of Finance.

Changing the commission’s procedures will cause several cities and the county to possibly delay or cancel transportation projects and services, they argued.

“I think we should stick with what we have done in the past,” Howard said. “We do not need to be jumping around from year to year and amending numbers.”

Schillo agreed, saying the money Thousand Oaks will lose from the reapportionment would cut into a program in which the city subsidizes low-cost taxi service for the elderly and disabled. The city spends about $258,000 a year on the program.

“If we lose this money, it is going to severely impact that service, which is not something I want to explain to the public in Thousand Oaks,” Schillo said.

Ventura County Public Works Director Arthur E. Goulet also warned the commission that the loss to the county of $206,000 could cause delays in some road improvement projects, some of which would be beneficial to Oxnard.

Despite these arguments, the remaining four members of the commission, including Oxnard Mayor Nao Tagasuki, said the panel had an obligation to use the most accurate population figures available in allocating funds.

“I don’t think that those cities that have been undercounted should be penalized,” said Tagasuki, who had requested that the commission consider the reapportionment.

Bob Weithofer, Oxnard’s traffic and transportation manager, said it is not certain yet how the city will use the additional money it will get.

In other action Friday, the transportation commission approved plans to spend $355,000 in special state transit assistance funds to study ways to improve and develop new countywide transit services and to establish a transit information program.

One study will examine ways to expand west county bus service to include stops at Point Mugu, Camarillo State Hospital and Camarillo Airport. Another will look at establishing bus connections among Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Moorpark.

About $75,000 of the money will be used to establish a toll-free bus information number.