OTHELLO — Othello residents will be asked to accept or reject a proposal to annex the city into Adams County Fire District 5 in April 2027. Othello City Council members approved an ordinance Monday affirming the city’s intent to annex into the fire district and committing the city to an April 2027 vote. 

The subject of annexation has been under discussion since late 2025, but the ordinance commits the city to putting the proposal on the special election ballot. 

“This is our commitment to go along with the process,” said Othello Mayor Ken Johnson.  

The vote was 5-0 in favor of the ordinance with no discussion. Council members Chris Dorow and Mark Snyder did not attend the meeting. 

“Annexation has been an ongoing project we’ve been doing throughout the year. We’ve talked about it many times,” said City Administrator Aaron Garza. “This is just one more step in the process.” 

Johnson said the ACFD 5 commissioners will have to accept the city’s proposal. Once that happens the proposal will be ready for submission  

The annexation will have to be approved by voters in ACFD 5 as well as the city. If it’s approved, Othello property owners would pay a separate levy to ACFD for fire safety.  

The ACFD 5 levy rate is 90 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. Previously Othello residents paid 65 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, but that changed when city officials negotiated a new contract with ACFD 5 in April. 

Until the annexation vote, the money to pay the ACFD 5 contract is included in the city’s property tax. Johnson said in an earlier interview that the current property tax is $2.26 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That’s the maximum the city can collect, he said.

If either city or district residents reject the annexation proposal, Johnson said the existing contract would remain in effect through the end of 2027.  

The ACFD 5 contract was set to expire at the end of April, and negotiations for a new one started in 2024. Ultimately council members turned down a proposal from the fire district in August 2024, reached after mediation. That proposal included an increase in the contract price and annexation of the city into the fire district.    

At that time the council and city officials opted to start work on establishing a municipal fire district, which became an issue in the 2025 mayoral and council elections. Johnson and the council eventually decided to revisit the annexation, as well as negotiating a contract with ACFD 5 for fire protection in the meantime. 

That contract, like the previous ones, is paid out of the city’s general fund. Since Othello residents would pay money directly to ACFD 5 for fire services, city officials and council members are trying to decide what to do with the 90 cents collected by the city for fire services. They have the option to return all or part of it to Othello residents.