Committee weighs amendments to Tacoma license code: $4,000 out-of-city threshold, fee changes and administrative updates

At the May 6, 2025 Government Performance and Finance Committee meeting, Daniel Larson, the city's tax and license manager, presented proposed amendments to Tacoma Municipal Code Title 6B. The proposal would raise the minimum threshold for requiring out-of-city businesses to obtain a Tacoma business license from $2,000 to $4,000, update regulatory license fees, change the title "home occupation" to "residential business," and make administrative clarifications.

"The proposed amendments include increases to 13 different license fees, with 1 fee being decreased. The changes to these fees will generate about $40,000 additional to the general fund," Larson told the committee.

Larson said the $2,000 threshold in the statewide model business-license ordinance (established 2018) was reviewed by a work group of cities in February 2024 and that the update recommends a one-time increase to $4,000; the work group set a required adoption date of 01/01/2026. Larson said some regulatory license…