Voters to decide tax bump to pay for Pasco public library services
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Pasco council requests annexation into Mid‑Columbia Libraries, triggering vote.
- Measure would add $0.23 per $1,000 in property tax — about $115 on a $500,000 home.
- Annexation aims to secure funding, streamline planning and deepen branch collaboration.
The Pasco City Council voted unanimously Monday to begin the process of officially joining the Mid-Columbia Libraries through an annexation.
The city has contracted for more than 50 years to get services from the library system and now will ask voters if they want to pay to be an official partner.
Currently, the city pays about $3 million a year from the general fund for the contract, said Richa Sigdel, deputy city manager.
Officials say annexation makes long-term planning easier and makes the partnership more effective and efficient compared to relying on a contract. It’s been part of the city’s plan for at least eight years.
Mid-Columbia Libraries operates two branches in Pasco. The building downtown is owned by the city and the other in west Pasco is leased to the library system.
Library annexation process
The process begins when the city council requests annexation with an ordinance. The state librarian is notified of the ordinance, the library’s Board of Trustees passes a resolution and the resolution is sent to Franklin County commissioners.
The county must then pass a resolution calling for a vote in the next special election, likely at the beginning of 2026.
Only Pasco residents will be voting on the measure. Other areas of Franklin County, including Connell, Kahlotus and Mesa already have annexed into the library district. Richland has its own library system.
The property tax increase is expected to be $0.23 per $1,000 in assessed property value. For a $400,000 home, that adds up to $92 each year in additional property tax.
Though its unclear exactly how much the property tax would generate, the library system would collect more than $3 million, Sigdel said.
If voters approve, Pasco residents will notice the rate change as soon as 2027.
“It’s a net positive for Pasco residents. It eliminates the uncertainty of contracts. Once the voters decide to annex in, it just continues in perpetuity,” said Carlos Orozco, associate director of communications at Mid-Columbia Libraries.
Annexation won’t have an effect on existing library services. But it will make it easier for collaboration between Pasco’s libraries and other branches.
Pasco libraries are popular
The downtown Pasco library branch on Hopkins Street has the largest Spanish collection of books across the library system, and heavy daily use of the public computers.
There also is a Kadlec community health worker onsite.
The west Pasco branch is at 7525 Wrigley Dr. It has one of Eastern Washington’s only library drive-thrus. There is high demand for checkouts and programs — there were 12,000 participants in library programs in 2024.
So far this year, there have been more than 107,000 visitors at the two Pasco branches.
The library system already has plans to put a library inside the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in east Pasco with a tentative 2026 opening. There are also talks of building another library as part of a civic campus in the Broadmoor area, near the future Aquatic Center.
Mid-Columbia Libraries has 12 branches in Eastern Washington.
The library system launched a reciprocal lending program in January that unites Mid-Columbia Libraries, Richland Library, Walla Walla County Rural Library District, Walla Walla Public Library and Columbia County Rural Library.
Customers can receive nonresident library cards at those neighboring libraries. Patrons may request guest cards by presenting their home library card at the library they wish to use.
