NORTH COUNTY - A key meeting scheduled for today to finalize plans for a regional emergency winter shelter system has been canceled after some participating North County cities balked at the amount of money they would have to contribute under the proposed plan.

At the same time, architects of the shelter system said a coalition of 29 nonprofit agencies and nine North County cities isn't faltering, adding that they still expect the system to be in place by winter.

Mel Takahara, project director for the Salvation Army in Escondido and one of the principal organizers of the proposed shelter system, said officials are still working out details of the proposed system and are working to reduce its proposed $558,846 budget.

"It's the same basic plan," Takahara said. "The main difference is that we have made adjustments to make it more affordable for all cities."

Takahara declined to provide further details on the revisions.

Over the past month, city staff members and a subcommittee of the nonprofit agencies had met weekly to prepare a final shelter plan to be presented today to representatives of the nine city councils, Takahara said.

"Even working weekly, it's such a massive task," Takahara said. "We have a very high standard that we're aiming for of clarity and really pinning things down. In order to accomplish that properly, we need a little extra time."

The Alliance for Regional Solutions formed this year and includes 29 North County social service agencies, along with officials representing the nine North County cities. The coalition began discussing the need for a shelter system separately at the beginning of the year. Alliance and city officials then met in June and July to meld their ideas and hash out the details.

About 800 homeless individuals or families live on the streets of North County, while about 1,200 live in local shelter programs, according to a San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless report released last year.

Under the first draft of the proposed shelter plan that Takahara presented at a July 17 meeting, the population of each city would determine how much it contributes to the shelter system. Under the plan:

• The small cities of Del Mar and Solana Beach each would pay $15,000 each winter.

• North County's two largest cities, Escondido and Oceanside, each would contribute $40,000.

• Encinitas, Carlsbad, Poway, Vista and San Marcos each would pay $30,000.

In addition to city funding, the shelter system draft proposal also calls for donations of $70,000 from the United Way and $79,406 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The new system would provide 199 beds for anyone who needs shelter from November through March at permanent facilities in Oceanside, Vista, Carlsbad and Escondido, as well as at rotating locations both inland and on the coast.

The shelters would be run by area nonprofit agencies, some of which already run homeless shelters, and also would have a standardized accountability system, case management to help the homeless get off the street, night watch staff, health screenings, a meal and other services, the proposal says.

The Escondido City Council has led the effort to bring its fellow city councils together to discuss the creation of a regional shelter system. So far, only the Oceanside council has given a clear public message of support for the idea, while the Poway council has said it needs more information before deciding whether to participate in the shelter system.

However, every North County city has been sending representatives to the recent meetings between city staff members and the nonprofit agencies, said Jerry Van Leeuwen, director of housing and neighborhood services for Escondido.

He said recent concerns over money actually are a good sign that every North County city seems to be on board with the shelter system.

"It's not been so much about whether they should pay, it's about how much they should pay," Van Leeuwen said Monday. "It seems to me that there's been some concurrence … that everybody has to participate."

Van Leeuwen and Takahara both said they are optimistic the shelter system will be in place this winter despite the meeting's cancelation. The meeting will be rescheduled for another date to be determined, they said.

City staff representatives to the coalition from San Marcos and Carlsbad, two of the cities that have been least involved in the shelter discussions until recently, said Monday the cities support a regional shelter system.

Frank Boensch, a management analyst for Carlsbad, said the amount of city funding required is a concern for Carlsbad officials, but that they like the organization and management plan proposed for the shelter system.

For San Marcos, its contribution shouldn't be a problem, because the city already budgets about $40,000 annually for area homeless shelters, said Karl Schwarm, senior administrative analyst there.

"We've historically funded them," Schwarm said. "We think this regional solutions is a great idea. It kind of formalizes (the funding)."

- Contact staff writer Paul Eakins at (760) 740-5420 or peakins@nctimes.com.