Committee approves amendments to pawnbroker and secondhand goods licensing; fees reduced

The Tacoma Government Performance and Finance Committee on Feb. 4 voted to forward proposed amendments to the city’s pawnbroker and secondhand goods licensing rules to full City Council after staff described exemptions, fee changes and reporting updates.

Staff presentation and what changed Danielle Larson, Tax and License Manager, presented draft amendments intended to update Tacoma’s regulatory licensing for pawnbrokers, secondhand goods dealers and garage sales. Larson said the changes are designed to reflect shifts in how secondhand goods are traded and to reduce administrative burden where risk is low. "The city identifies the pawnbroker and secondhand goods industry as an area that requires additional regulation," Larson said.

Key elements in the proposal include: - A new exemption from the licensing requirement for secondhand goods dealers that do not purchase items directly from individuals and instead obtain goods through donations, estate sales, auctions or purchases from other dealers. - An exemption from the daily reporting requirement for items valued under $100 for businesses that remain subject to reporting; staff said low-dollar items obtained through those channels carry lower risk of being stolen. - Fee reductions: proposed annual license fees lowered from $750 to $250 for pawnbrokers and from $150 to $100 for secondhand goods dealers. Staff said the fees are set to cover the administration and regulation of the licensing activity rather than generate revenue. - Continued use of an electronic reporting system (Leads Online) for items that remain subject to daily reporting.

Staff said the proposed exemption would reduce the number of licensed secondhand goods dealers from about 80 to about 60. Larson told the committee the proposed fee reductions reflect a drop in administration costs and that staff plan a regular review of regulatory license fees, likely every two years, to consider cost-of-living or CPI adjustments.

Questions and committee discussion Committee members raised clarifying questions about whether secondhand clothing stores are included (Larson said many clothing items are exempt and read a list of categories that are exempted), how multiple locations are licensed (each pawnbroker location requires a separate license), and how reporting has moved from paper logs to Leads Online.

Larson said staff sent the proposed amendments to the licensed businesses on Jan. 24 and received one comment supporting the exemption. The proposal was discussed with Tacoma Police Department detectives who work in this area, Larson said.

Committee action A motion to forward the proposed amendments to City Council was made, seconded and approved by voice vote. The transcript did not record the mover or seconder names. The committee recorded no opposing votes.

What the committee did not decide The committee did not adopt the code amendments; it voted to forward the item to council for formal consideration. Specific code chapter citations were discussed in the presentation but the transcript includes variant references; staff will provide finalized code citations with the ordinance at council.

Next steps The amendments will be scheduled for consideration by full City Council per the city’s ordinance process. Staff indicated they will continue a broader review of regulatory license fees this year and expect to return with any indexing or further changes.