Ken Graham: FROM THE PUBLISHER

Yes, I know, this advice seems painfully obvious, and even trite – sort of like your mother telling you that vegetables are good for you.

But if you live in Waitsburg, it’s best to keep this advice in mind and pay attention.

Voters in this fair city are being asked to approve a measure that would allow annexation of the Waitsburg Fire Department into Walla Walla County Fire District 2.

This is actually a really good idea. The two departments are housed in the same building and they share personnel. It would surely be more efficient to operate them as one.

But hold on, there’s more. The wordage on the ballot doesn’t tell you this, but if you live in Waitsburg and you vote yes, you’re also voting to approve a tax increase.

If the fire department annexation passes, property owners in Waitsburg will see an increase on their property tax bill starting next year of $0.51 per $1,000 valuation. This revenue will go to District 2 to pay for the added cost to serve the city.

And though the city will be relieved of the cost of operating a fire department, there will be no reduction in taxes citizens pay to the city.

This all seems a bit odd, since one of the main arguments for annexation is to improve efficiency. Shouldn’t that result in a savings to taxpayers, and not an added cost?

I think it’s fair to say that fire district and city officials have been less than forthcoming about the tax increase that comes along with annexation. It is not mentioned on the ballot, and it was also not mentioned in the voters’ guide.

At a Waitsburg Commercial Club meeting last month, when District officials presented information about the annexation to the group, no mention of the tax increase was made until a Times reporter brought it up near the end of the presentation.

At a fire station open house last week to answer questions about the annexation, officials were asked why the language on the ballot didn’t mention the tax increase. A state fire official replied that the county prosecutor’s office wrote the language and that the word-count limit of 75 for ballot measure description wouldn’t allow inclusion of tax details.

The Times then checked with Walla Walla County Prosecutor Jim Nagle and he assured us that his office did not write the descriptin. They simply checked to make sure that the ballot language presented by the District met state statutes. He said there is no prohibition on mentioning a tax increase in ballot language, though for an annexation, it’s not required.

Regarding the word-count limit, the description of the fire district annexation measure on this year’s ballot is only 20 words long. Seems like a hint about the tax increase could have been tucked in there.

So back to me giving advice: If you live in Waitsburg, don’t vote in favor of the fire department annexation unless you think it’s worth a significant property tax increase.

And if this annexation measure fails to pass, make it clear to city and district officials that, while annexation is a very good idea, next time they need to be much more clear and up front with voters about what the costs are and why.