Voters will decide future of Pasco libraries. Should property tax increase?
Pasco voters will decide the future of the city’s library services in the Feb. 10 special election.
Proposition 1 asks voters whether the city should annex into Mid-Columbia Libraries, Eastern Washington’s rural intercounty library district.
Annexing into the library district would increase property tax by about $0.23 per $1,000 in assessed property value. For a $400,000 home, that adds up to $92 each year, or $7.67 per month, in additional property tax. The library district would be the taxing authority.
Though its unclear exactly how much money the property tax would generate, the library district would collect more than $3 million per year. The city’s assessed valuation is currently about $13.5 billion.
If voters approve the ballot measure, Pasco residents will notice the tax rate increase as soon as 2027.
Only Pasco voters will decide on the measure. Kennewick and parts of Franklin County, including Connell, Kahlotus and Mesa, already have been annexed into the library district. West Richland contracts with Mid-Columbia Libraries and Richland has its own library system.
Regular ballots will be mailed by Friday, Jan. 23. Military and overseas ballots were mailed before Friday, Jan. 9.
How Pasco libraries operate now
Mid-Columbia Libraries currently 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.
Pasco has contracted for more than 50 years to get services from the library district 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 its general fund for the contract with Mid-Columbia Libraries, Richa Sigdel, deputy city manager for Pasco, previously told the Tri-City Herald.
If the ballot measure passes, the city plans to instead use that money to “reduce reliance on (budget) reserves and maintain the current service levels for public safety, roads and park services,” Sigdel said.
Officials say annexation makes long-term planning easier and makes the city-library 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.
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.
If the vote fails, the city council will need to decide whether to continue the contract with the library district.
Sigdel said the city provided the library district an 18-month notice of cancellation of the city’s contract in August 2025. But she said there are no specific plans yet if the ballot measure fails.
