SAN DIEGO -- The city's Chargers task force voted 14-1 Monday to recommend that the City Council extend until March 1 the start of a two-month period during which the team can exercise an option to get out of its lease.

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The City Council is scheduled to vote on the recommendation during the first week in January, said Geoff Patnoe, a member of the task force.

"This proposal doesn't change any of the city's legal rights and doesn't cost a dime," Patnoe said.

If approved by the council, the so-called trigger period, which was included in the team's 1995 contract, would start in March. It had been set to start Dec. 1.

Patnoe, executive director of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, said the "trigger has been a distraction to the process" and the extension would give the task force time to complete its work.

The Citizens Task Force on Chargers Issues, which voted to recommend the extension of the trigger period, is evaluating ways to keep the team, which wants a new stadium, in San Diego.

Earlier this month, Mayor Dick Murphy and two City Council members endorsed the idea of pushing the trigger period forward to March.

At the time, the Chargers rejected the idea, saying the city should consider the team's offer to eliminate the trigger and controversial ticket guarantee in exchange for the team being let out of its contract early. The city's guarantee of 60,000 ticket sales per game has cost the city more than $30 million since 1997.

But the City Council shot down that contract renegotiation proposal, and the Chargers agreed to move the trigger period.

The team has asserted that the conditions already exist to enable it to exercise the trigger clause, which is based on NFL salary restrictions.

The Chargers have 60 days to notify the city if the team believes it has met the trigger threshold for this season. Such a notice would start a 90-day negotiation period with the city of San Diego, followed by a 180-day period when the Chargers could seek a deal in another town.

The city also would have 90 days to match any offer presented to the team.