With no deal in sight between San Diego County supervisors and planners at odds over how a half-cent sales tax extension will be used to pay for transportation projects, officials have canceled a meeting this week at which they were set to discuss a compromise.

Supervisors want more of the tax money to pay for freeway improvements. The San Diego Association of Governments, the agency that plans to put the tax proposal on the ballot in November, want the money split more evenly between public transportation, streets and highways.

Both sides said they are too far from a compromise to meet this Friday.

But one of the parties trying to broker a deal said Monday that one canceled meeting does not a lost cause make.

"Just as late as Friday we've had discussions," said County Supervisor Dianne Jacob. Jacob is negotiating with Poway Mayor Mickey Cafagna, who is also the association board's vice chairman, to try to find a compromise.

Jacob is one of three county supervisors opposing a plan to extend the half-cent sales tax, known as TransNet. She and supervisors Bill Horn and Pam Slater-Price, all of whom represent suburban and rural areas of the county, have said too much of the tax revenues are promised to public transportation projects.

In May, the association approved a proposal to put the TransNet extension on the November ballot. The association, known as SANDAG, is a regional transportation agency which represents the county and its 18 cities.

If approved by voters, the tax is expected to raise $14 billion from 2008, when the current tax expires, through 2048 to pay for transportation projects. The deadline to put the measure on the ballot is August 6.

Under the current proposal, TransNet revenues would be divided roughly into thirds among freeways, public transportation and surface streets.

The three opposing supervisors say that split doesn't do enough to address clogged freeways. They want half of the revenues to go to freeways and a third to go to surface streets, leaving the rest for mass-transit projects.

In order to gain the support of reluctant county supervisors, the association board left open the door for an amendment that would change how the money is divided. The association board was scheduled this Friday to review a proposed amendment to the tax aimed at quelling dissent from the supervisors.

But there are no proposed changes to discuss, association spokesman Garry Bonnelli said Monday, so Friday's meeting was canceled.

"Apparently there's no movement," Bonnelli said.

National City Councilman Ron Morrison said Monday that there will not be radical changes to the plan. Any wholesale changes would upset a board that's worked hard on a balance plan and is "getting tired of rewarding bad behavior," he said.

Putting too much money into highways will promote sprawl in the county's rural areas, Morrison said.

"I think we've laid out a substantial offer to the county," he said. That offer shifts money around without gutting programs, he said. Some of the money will still fund the same programs, but those programs have been put in new categories. For instance, some of the costs of bus rapid transit lines will now be reflected under highway costs because the vehicles will use freeway car-pool lanes to carry commuters.

Will that fly?

Probably, Morrison said. The county is looking at the bottom line for each category, he said.

"They're not looking at the substance," he said.

Jacob said Monday that there is time to work out an agreement.

"I will continue to work diligently to resolve our differences," she said.

She declined to say what the negotiations have covered so far or how long she thought they would take.

Last week, Poway's Cafagna said that the association may change a provision that allows the association board, with a two-thirds vote, to delete or alter projects slated for TransNet funding. Jacob has said that voters, not the association board, should be the only ones able to change how the tax money is spent.

TransNet is seen as the financial backbone of the county's future transportation funding. It is part of a larger, $42 billion plan to expand and maintain the county's roads, freeways and public transportation systems through 2030. State, federal and local revenues will make up the balance of the plan.

The overall transportation plan, known as Mobility 2030, was approved last year by the association board.The $42 billion plan includes $7.8 billion in TransNet money through 2030.

The total plan dedicates $16 billion to public transportation, $15.4 billion to freeways, $9.6 billion to surface streets and $830 million to bicycle and pedestrian programs.

Contact staff writer Katherine Marks at (760) 740-3529 or kmarks@nctimes.com.