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Council hears resident suggestions to fix online sales-tax defaults; city sees increased Chewy payments
Summary
Residents pressed the city to work with Commerce and large e-commerce platforms to correct default address databases that sent sales tax to Kent instead of Covington; staff and council members said Commerce is involved and noted large sales-tax payments in November–December.
Residents and council members discussed a persistent problem where some online retailers default customer addresses to Kent rather than Covington, redirecting sales tax revenue away from the city. Debbie summarized two homeowners-association (HOA) reports describing the issue and said Commerce had been slow to respond but that Casey (city staff) now has a Commerce contact working on the issue.
A resident who identified herself as a software engineer urged the city and Commerce to work directly with the software providers that control address drop-down databases so Covington is an option in common checkout menus.
Casey told council she had heard back from the Department of Revenue/Commerce today and that large payments from online sellers (including Chewy) had been received in November and December, indicating steps toward resolution were underway. Council members noted the city will continue to monitor incoming tax distributions and Commerce follow-up.
Council and staff did not commit to retroactive reimbursement for prior misallocated sales tax on the audio record; staff described ongoing coordination with Commerce to correct address coding in vendor databases.
