Report Finds Increased Cost in Hiring Out for Fire Service : Budget: City would pay $255,000 a year more if it contracts with the L.A. County Fire Department, study shows. Officials say this figure only represents an opening offer.

A proposal to have the Los Angeles County Fire Department take over emergency services in the city of Compton suffered a setback this week when a report revealed that it would cost the city $255,000 a year more than if it continued to operate its own fire department.

Despite the higher price tag for county fire service, a city official said Wednesday that it is too early to reject the proposal.

“We have not had time to evaluate it yet,” Assistant City Manager Paul Richards said. “In the summary, it appears there is an increased cost, although looking further into the report there may be some cost savings for the city.”

The county report shows that Compton budgeted $6.3 million last year for its Fire Department, compared to the more than $6.5 million the county would charge.

Richards added that city officials are not concerned about the high projected cost for county fire service because they believe the figure is merely an opening offer. “This just serves as a point of negotiation for a possible arrangement with the county,” Richards said.

Officials in the financially strapped city requested the study last year, in hopes that contracting with the county for firefighting services would save money.

The county Fire Department official who prepared the report said the county is open to talks about the cost, but not if that would mean providing less service.

“We are not going to lower our cost to provide service, if in our belief the service would not be to the level we consider adequate,” said John Gee, head of the county Fire Department’s planning department.

Disbanding the Compton Fire Department has been controversial in the city of 91,000, regardless of whether it would result in cost savings. Supporters of the local department said they believe it provides better, more personal service than the huge county department would.

The idea of switching to the county lost one of its major backers last year with the death of Mayor Walter R. Tucker Jr. In an April municipal election for mayor and City Council, only one of 18 candidates supported switching to the county Fire Department.

“I would like to keep the service we already have in Compton,” Councilwoman Bernice Woods said Wednesday. “I feel that usually, the people can get the service quicker.”

In asking for a cost estimate from the county, Compton officials had hoped to benefit from “economies of scale”--the savings typically associated with joining larger organizations that can defray administrative and overhead costs.

The report officially forwarded Tuesday by the County Board of Supervisors to Compton showed, however, that the county would charge more because of the high level of emergency calls in the city.

On average, one of every eight residents of Compton made an emergency call to the city Fire Department in the last year, compared to one in every 14 residents in areas served by the county Fire Department, Gee said.

The county could offer fire service for a lower price only it it lowered its standards, which include responding to emergency calls within five minutes, Gee said.

Under its service plan, the county would keep three of Compton’s existing four fire stations open and augment that service, when needed, with crews from 19 other county fire stations that are within five miles of the city.