Council Cool to Fire Dept. Merger : Budget: The consolidation of city and county departments had been proposed as a way of partly bridging an anticipated $2.5-million budget gap.

The City Council has shelved a proposal to turn the El Monte Fire Department into a branch of the county fire district.

The consolidation of the two departments had been proposed by Councilwoman Patricia Wallach as a way of partly bridging an anticipated $2.5-million budget gap this year.

But the council decided Tuesday not to spend $5,500 to study the possible cost-saving effects of “going county,” as city officials put it.

Citing the city’s traditional commitment to “home rule,” the council voted 4 to 1 not to pursue the study.

“It’s a little disheartening that we wouldn’t spend $5,500 for a possible $1-million savings,” said Wallach, who cast the dissenting vote. She said the fee would have been absorbed by the county if El Monte’s fire department had been consolidated with the county’s.

Initial estimates, based on studies by other cities, were that El Monte could save up to $464,000 a year by consolidating its fire department with the county’s, City Administrator Gregory D. Korduner said.

When Wallach first raised the issue, some residents charged that she was compromised by a conflict of interest because her son Daren, 31, is a city firefighter.

El Monte’s 27 rank and file city firefighters stood to be major beneficiaries of the plan, because, as county firefighters, their salaries would have increased. El Monte firefighters earn monthly pay of between $2,525 and $3,072, depending on their level of experience. County firefighters earn between $2,762 and $3,807 a month.

But City Atty. David F. Gondek ruled that Wallach was not in conflict, because she and her son, a 10-year veteran of the department, were not financially dependent on each other.

Councilman Jack T. Crippen, an outspoken home rule advocate, said the vote Tuesday reflected the wishes of the city’s voters. The issue of county control of the city department was raised in a ballot initiative in 1970 and defeated by a 3-1 margin.

“I feel that the people own the department,” Crippen said. “It’s their equipment, their stations.”

In March, the council set up a panel of citizens and city officials to recommend whether to perform the consolidation study; two weeks ago it voted against the study.

Korduner, who chaired the panel, said other cities had reported a range of expenditures and savings, “depending on whether you close down or build fire stations.”

Panel members said they were swayed by a recent memorandum from County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman indicating that the county had serious financial difficulties of its own.

Freeman announced that, because of rising expenses, residents of areas covered by the county fire district would probably be assessed between $15 and $20 a year per single-family dwelling and up to $1,800 for commercial properties.

Crippen and Wallach have been designated by the council to seek other means of cutting city expenses. “Things don’t look very bright,” Wallach said. “It’s either layoffs or service cuts. I’m not looking forward to it.”