Mill Creek council adopts higher exemption threshold for out‑of‑city business licenses

The Mill Creek City Council voted unanimously to update its business-license ordinance to match the state model’s raised exemption threshold for businesses headquartered outside the city.

City staff presented the change, noting that the state’s 2017 law required a business-license model ordinance and that the Association of Washington Cities published model language. The measure raises the threshold at which an out‑of‑city business doing work inside Mill Creek must obtain a local business license from $2,000 to $4,000 in total value of work per year, and it adopts automatic adjustments tied to the consumer price index every four years.

City staff explained that the city must adopt the updated code by Oct. 1 to give the Washington State Department of Revenue time to change online applications and notices; the new threshold is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2026. The presenter confirmed that a city business license remains annual and that the exemption threshold applies per-year (not per-project) and does not apply to trades that require specialized permits (for which a license is still required regardless of threshold).

Council members asked for examples. Staff said a non‑local contractor who performs more than $4,000 of work in the city in a year would need a Mill Creek business license; pop‑up vendors or festival sellers may be covered by the event permit process and business‑license requirements tied to the threshold.

The ordinance was adopted by unanimous vote; staff said the license fee itself is a modest amount (presented as $25) and that raising the threshold makes compliance easier for very small, infrequent vendors while aligning the city with the state model.

Ending: The city will submit the change so Department of Revenue applications can reflect the new threshold; staff will return with implementation details as needed.