Lake Stevens raises nonresident business-license threshold to $4,000 and adopts no-fee endorsement option

The Lake Stevens City Council on Sept. 9 approved an ordinance to raise the city’s nonresident business‑license exemption threshold from $2,000 to $4,000 to match a statewide requirement effective Jan. 1, 2026, and directed staff to pursue an optional no‑fee city endorsement for businesses below the threshold. Planning manager Christy Schmidt told the council that cities are required to change the exemption amount and that the Department of Revenue offers an automated, zero‑cost endorsement through its system. Schmidt said many cities already issue the endorsement to out‑of‑city businesses that perform small amounts of work inside multiple jurisdictions to provide proof that they are authorized to conduct business there. Council members discussed practical examples: a councilor described seeing the community transit Zip car in use and noted the value of endorsements for small service providers; another member said endorsements are helpful for small handyman or low‑value work where the total receipts in the city fall below the $4,000 threshold. Because the change was presented as a discussion item, the council moved it to action that night and then voted to adopt Ordinance 12‑02, increasing the threshold and adding the optional Lake Stevens no‑fee endorsement. Staff said the Department of Revenue requires the city to adopt the change by Oct. 15 to meet processing lead times to make the endorsement effective by Jan. 1, 2026. Schmidt said the endorsement process is automated and requires businesses to hold a UBI and to select city endorsements when logging into the state system.