L.A. County to Pay Local Metrolink Shortfall : Transportation: The $1.6 million in expenses was rejected by Ventura County leaders. They call cost-sharing formula unfair.

Los Angeles County transportation officials voted Wednesday to cover about $1.6 million in Metrolink expenses that Ventura County has refused to pay because of a dispute over the cost-sharing formula.

The two-year agreement was approved without debate during the last meeting of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the first meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The new agency resulted from a merger of the commission and the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

Under the agreement, Los Angeles County will pay about $828,000 annually for Metrolink costs assigned to Ventura County, according to a formula approved by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority. The five-county agency operates the commuter train system.

Ventura County leaders, who believe the present cost-sharing formula is unfair, said they were pleased by Wednesday’s vote.

“We did not expect any problems,” said Ginger Gherardi, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

Gherardi said the regional rail agency is expected to devise a new cost-sharing formula after Metrolink, launched last fall, finishes its first year of service.

“They need to have a year’s experience and then come up with something equitable,” she said.

The current Metrolink funding formula is based solely on track mileage. But Ventura County leaders protested last year that this requires them to pay too large a share.

Ventura County leaders believe the formula should take into account other factors, such as the number of riders each region contributes.

“There certainly should be more to the equation than track mileage,” said Simi Valley Councilman Bill Davis, who also represents Ventura County on the rail authority board.

In recent weeks, Davis and other Ventura County leaders have pointed out that Ventura County’s stations in Simi Valley and Moorpark are providing nearly half the riders on Metrolink’s Ventura County Line.

The 47-mile rail trip from Moorpark to downtown Los Angeles includes about 12 miles in Ventura County.

The Metrolink share initially billed to Ventura County was more than double the $750,000 annual allocation approved by Ventura County transportation commissioners. Los Angeles County agreed informally last summer to cover the remainder of the bill during Metrolink’s first two years, Gherardi said.

Ventura County leaders said they wanted the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission to make the agreement official before it was merged into the new agency.

If Ventura County has not paid its share of the revised formula, it will reimburse Los Angeles County, Gherardi said.

Ventura County has fewer dollars available for transportation projects because, unlike the other counties involved in Metrolink, it does not collect an extra half-cent sales tax for public transit programs. Ventura County voters rejected such a tax in 1990.

Gherardi said Ventura County has the right to reduce its Metrolink service if it costs too much after the formula is revised. But she said she hopes a service cut will not be necessary.

“I think the system is very worthwhile, and our ridership is growing,” she said. “Hopefully, it will be able to continue.”

Times staff writer Hugo Martin contributed to this story.