OTHELLO — The city of Othello and Adams County Fire District 5 will work to annex the city into ACFD 5. Othello City Council members approved a pre-annexation agreement with the fire district on a 6-0 vote Monday. 

The contract commits the district and city officials to submit an annexation proposal to city residents in April 2027. That date might – but probably wouldn’t – be subject to change, Mayor Ken Johnson told the Columbia Basin Herald in a separate interview.  

If the annexation is rejected, the agreement calls for it to be resubmitted to the voters in August 2027, which would be next available date.  

If annexation is approved in spring 2027, July 30 would be the effective date.  

If Othello voters approve annexation, the fire district would take ownership of the city’s fire station on Broadway Avenue, along with all city-owned fire equipment. Council member Marc Spohr, in a statement read by Johnson during the meeting, said that provision concerned him. 

“It should be further negotiated, as this annexation is a decision that could affect the city for the next 20 or 30 years,” Spohr wrote.  

Council members voted to go ahead. 

The existing contract would be in effect through the end of 2027 if Othello voters reject annexation, or it’s rejected in April and approved later in the year. The city will pay about $1.2 million for fire services, which reflects an increase in the levy assessment approved by ACFD 5 voters in 2025. Othello and ACFD 5 had a contract for 2025, with the city paying $793,000.   

Annexation, or other options, have been under discussion for about two years. Initially council members rejected a contract with an annexation proposal and decided to form a separate city fire department. With a new mayor and new council members after the 2025 election, the council opted to abandon a municipal fire department and negotiate with ACFD 5.  

Fire district voters approved a 25-cent increase in their levy assessment following the city’s decision to start its own department, pushing their rate to 90 cents of assessed property value.  If the annexation is approved, Othello residents will pay that rate. 

Under the existing contract, the city pays ACFD 5, and the fire district assessment is included in residents’ city property taxes. If annexation passes, residents would pay ACFD 5 directly.  

What would happen to the money collected by the city for fire services is still under discussion. The city’s assessment for fire services is 65 cents, which is what county residents were paying before they agreed to the increase. 

City officials took money from other programs to make up the difference between the old and new ACFD 5 contracts. That money would be returned to those programs, leaving about 65 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value that’s now being collected. 

That money is not allocated to any program, and council members have not decided what to do with it. One option is to return it to city residents, but another is to keep it and reallocate to other city services.  

Council members have been considering using the money for the Othello Community Pool, which was closed in 2024 and has been closed since. Johnson said that with a date scheduled for the annexation vote, a decision has to come pretty soon. 

“We need a clear direction moving forward, if we want to retain some of that money. We don't need the exact amount tonight or within the next few weeks of how much we're going to retain. We just need to know if that's the direction that we want to pursue,” Johnson said Monday.  

How much money the city would retain would depend on where it’s allocated, Johnson said. Where and how that money would be spent would be part of the information campaign for the annexation proposal.  

 “It'll be part of the package of annexation, and what else we're going to get with that,” Johnson said. “(Options include) pool construction, getting a new pool. If there's some left over, use it for other public safety issues, but we need a definite use for that, if that's the direction the council wishes to go.”