Provide your feedback on potential updates to city model business license minimum threshold

A work group of cities has been meeting to review the business license minimum threshold for out of city businesses that all cities with business licenses were required to adopt by January 1, 2019.

The last threshold was created in 2018 in a model ordinance process required by legislation (RCW 35.90.080), in part to respond to concerns of businesses concerns about licensing requirements for out of city businesses delivering goods on an infrequent basis using their own vehicles. The city work group decided to set the business license threshold for out of city businesses at $2,000 per year, with an option for cities to require no-fee registration only for out of city businesses below the threshold. Cities also had the option to create a higher threshold if they chose. The threshold was adopted by all cities with a January 1, 2019, effective date.

The statute provided the minimum threshold cannot be updated more frequently than every four years, and cities made a commitment to review the level every four to five years to see if the level created in 2019 is still working for cities and their out of city businesses.

The work group has been looking at a variety of options like a one-time increase to a higher threshold, an automatic increase by inflation, and a periodic increase by inflation, likely to take effect on January 1, 2025.

Help inform the work group’s work by responding to a quick survey.