2014 City Fee Changes

Partners,

A few of our city partners have new fees in 2014.  

As of January 1, Bellevue, DuPont, Sequim, and Stanwood will have changes to their fees.

At the close of business December 31, the City Business License Addendum and City Fee Sheet will be updated with these changes.

Happy New Year!

~ BLS Partnership Services

New Business License Application Forms for 2014

Partners,

The state Business License Application form has been updated. New ones will be mailed to you this week.

Find the revised Business License Application here starting the first of the year. (Update effective after 5 p.m. on December 31.)

Because of this change, current stock of the old form is obsolete.

Start using the new applications January 1, 2014.

Any business license applications that has a different revision date other than 11/21/13 must be recycled or destroyed.

This is the letter with complete information.


~BLS Partnership Services

BLS Partnership Services news updates

Partners-

Good tidings of the season!

We’re nearing the end of 2013, which makes this a good time to update you about the past year as well as the coming year work of the state Business Licensing Service.

Here are a few items of note:

• Angie Roberts has joined the team as the Partnership Services Assistant. She looks forward to meeting all of you. She will work Monday to Thursday and you can usually reach her at 360.705.6777.

• Brandi Greene, a 10-year veteran of business licensing, was named Partnership Services Coordinator in November. We're lucky to have her experience and skills working for our city and agency partners.

• Marijuana applications are being accepted till Dec. 20. Licenses will be issued by Liquor Control Board next year.

• BLS is moving ahead with its systems replacement. We're excited for the flexibility a new system will provide to our partners. As we work on the replacement, no changes can be made to BLS forms or mainframe programming. Thank you for your understanding as we commit resources and staff to work on this vital systems replacement.

We'll keep you updated of more changes as they happen. 

Happy Holidays to all!

~BLS Partnership Services

Taxpayer and BLS Services Will Be Closed Dec. 17

Partners,

Taxpayer Services including Business Licensing Service are attending an all day training on Tuesday, Dec. 17

There will be another division covering our front counter so that it can remain open for that day.

Taxpayer Services and BLS staff will be available and back in the office Wednesday, Dec. 18.

Thank you,

~ BLS Partnership Services

I-502 Application Period Ends December 20

Partners,

As you know, the state Business Licensing Service is accepting applications for marijuana producers, processors, and retailers. The application period ends December 20.

In order to be considered for approval, completed applications must be received no later than end of business December 20.

*Please do not accept applications past this date*

Until the December 20 deadline, BLS will continue to process applications regardless of local jurisdiction requirements. Liquor Control Board will investigate and approve applications according to approved rules under Initiative 502. The LCB information page is here.

Updated licensing information is at http://bls.dor.wa.gov/marijuana.aspx.

TIMELINE

• Oct. 16       Liquor Control Board adopts proposed rules 
• Nov. 18      Business Licensing Service begins accepting applications for all license types (producer, processor, and retailer)
• Nov. 20      Board begins processing applications for all license types (30-day window) 
• Dec. 1        Rules are complete
• Dec. 20      30-day window closes for producer, processor and retailer license applications 

UPDATE: Secure File Transfer (sft.wa.gov) down Sunday morning

Partners,

Technicians will be moving the Secure File Transfer service to a virtual server platform which includes an operating system upgrade. The system will be down during the upgrade.

Current end user functionality should remain the same.

Upgrades will be applied:

7:00 am – 12:00 noon
Sunday, December 15

Backlog Due to Marijuana Applications

Due to the high volume of Recreational Marijuana applications we are receiving,
BLS staff are experiencing a processing backlog of approximately six (6 ) days.

As of today we are processing documents received on Friday, Dec. 6.

Please allow up to 10 business days before inquiring about applications. We are working diligently to get all applications processed timely. 

 

UPDATE: Secure Access Washington down overnight Tuesday

8:30 a.m.
Dec. 4
The updates to https://secureaccess.wa.gov went perfectly. System is up and running.
----
Hi, City Partners,
 
Good news. The state's IT support agency (Consolidated Technology Services) is upgrading the software on the SecureAccess Washington (SAW) gateway tonight.
 
The https://secureacess.wa.gov  gateway will be down from 6:30 p.m. tonight through 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
No functions will be affected. You may see minor changes to the web pages, however.

~ BLS Partnership Services

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014 State Treasurer Distribution Dates

Hello Partners,

 

Here is the 2014 calendar of distribution dates for local license fees. These are sent by Office of State Treasurer (OST) after we collect on your behalf.
 

Please let us know if you have any questions about the deposits.

Happy Holidays!

 

~BLS Partnership Services

Systems down overnight Tuesday, Nov. 19

Partners,

Heads up! Our BLS applications and DOR tax information system will down overnight tonight.
It's routine systems maintenance as our IT teams apply critical security patches to our servers. 

Systems will be down:

8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19

to

6 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

 

Marijuana business applications accepted Monday

At 8 a.m. Monday, Nov. 18, the state Business Licensing Service will begin accepting applications for marijuana business licenses.

Completed applications and related addenda must be received by 5 p.m. on Dec. 19 in order to be considered. Mailed applications must be postmarked by Dec. 19.

Applicants for marijuana business licenses should request all other licenses and registrations that their particular business may need at the time of application. This could include a city business license if the proposed location is within city limits of a city partnered with BLS. The applicant may need to submit other additional forms and pay all the respective licensing fees due, including BLS processing fees.

BLS has worked closely with the state Liquor Control Board to implement Initiative 502. We have provided some specific information on costs, timelines, and requirements on this page. Please review.

You may direct businesses with questions to online resources or to call 1-800-451-7985.

~BLS Partnership Services

Welcome, Ephrata!

We are pleased to welcome a new city partner. Ephrata is the gateway to the Columbia Basin and full of natural beauty, abundant wildlife and historical wonders. Now it’s an even better place to do business. Ephrata becomes the 57th Washington State city partner for the business licensing service.  Welcome aboard!

Welcome, Deer Park – Our Newest BLS Partner

The city of Deer Park has joined BLS as the 58th Washington city partner.  Welcome, Deer Park!  We are honored to have them aboard. We look forward to working with their valued business community.

Online business licensing not available Saturday

Partners -



Updated online business license application

Scheduled maintenance is planned Saturday for our online services, including our online Business License Application, Business license renewal, and Corporation or LLC renewals.

The service will be unavailable from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, October 18.

Please direct any questions to us at Partnership Services.

Thank you.


UPDDATED: SFT service is restored Monday (Oct. 6)

The SFT service is now restored.

Only partners who use the SFT service to get files or reports were impacted.

Thank you for your patience today.
------------------------------------------
Partners--

The Secure File Transfer site is offline on Monday morning, October 6. We apologize.

We expect it to be fixed soon. If you need help accessing reports or files, send an email we can try to have them to you on Tuesday morning or sooner.

Thanks for your understanding.

~BLS Partnership Services

UPDATED: SFT system down Monday morning (Sept 30)

The SFT online service is working again as of early Monday afternoon.
Planned upgrades to the system are postponed, however. We'll let you know if those are rescheduled.
Thanks very much for your patience.
-----------------------
Partners,

The state's Secure File Transfer system where many of you access BLS files and reports is not working Monday morning. The state's Consolidated Technology Services is fixing the issue and will communicate with state agency IT divisions throughout the day.

Sorry for this inconvenience. We will keep you updated with any changes at this site.

~BLS Partnership Services

Destroy old paper application stock on October 1

Partners-

We've told you previously about the application and renewal fee changes taking effect October 1.

  

New paper applications with updated fees will be distributed in mid-September. Start using these new applications on Tuesday, October 1.

*On October 1, all older paper applications listing the $15 processing fee must be destroyed.*

Thank you,

~BLS Partnership Services

BLS Fee Increase Takes Effect on October 1st

Partners,

As we had advised earlier this year, the state Business Licensing Service will increase its application and renewal fees. New fees are in effect as of October 1, 2013.

 

Application Fee: from $15 to $19.

Renewal Fee: from $9 to $11.

  
This fee increase is permitted by approved legislation. See our previous news article on the BLS fee increase for more information.

Important: Please update your city and agency web pages with application and renewal information. Also, advise your front counter staff of the pending fee change.


 ~BLS Partnership Services
 
 
 
 
 
 

BLS systems back on-line Thursday

Update: 1:59 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 22

 

Hi, Partners,

The BLS data and systems are now online and fully functional again.
NOTE: If you have not logged out since before 11:30 a.m., you will need to completely log out and then log in again.

Sorry for the interruption today.

~BLS Partnership Services

------------------------------------
Online business license applications are temporarily out of service Thursday morning. BLS mainframe data are also offline presently. 

 

We are working to resolve these issues. Our phone, online, and email support services are still available to you and applicants, of course.

 

Unfortunately, we do not have an estimated time frame for systems to be back online.  

 

Please forward this notification to your peers who use Business Licensing Service systems of the temporary outage.

 

Thank you

~BLS Partnership Services

 

 

 

 

Washington Small Business Fair September 28

Biz Fair 2013 - One Day, One Place 

 

Learn from the experts how to form and run a successful business at the 17th annual Washington Small Business Fair. 

 

Biz Fair 2013

Saturday, September 28

8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Renton Technical College3000 NE 4th Street, in Renton

Sharpen your skills - attend seminars that cover important, up-to-date topics for all stages of business ownership. Savvy business experts share their knowledge and real-life experiences with you. 

Save valuable time - connect with 30 federal, state, and local government agencies, and business and trade associations to get the information you need. 

 
The fair is free with plenty of free parking and no advance registration.

Visit www.bizfair.org for more information.

Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bizfair.

 

REVISED: I-502 Update - next steps in licensing marijuana

UPDATE: August 13, 2013

The Liquor Control Board has updated its implementation timeline, which affects the beginning of the application periods to be a producer, processor, or retailer. Some dates are below.

• September 4, 2013
  Filing of Revised Proposed Rules
   
• October 9, 2013
  Public Hearing
   
• October 16, 2013
  Board Adoption of Rules
   
• November 16, 2013
  Rules Effective Date
   
• Nov. 18 - Dec. 20, 2013
  WSLCB Accepts Applications (30-day window)

--end update--
==================================================================
August 2, 2013
BLS City Partners –

We all knew when Initiative 502 passed in 2012 that we’d have a lot of questions on the path to retail sales of marijuana in Washington State.

More and more of those questions are getting answered. Next week, there will be a public hearing on the draft rules that will govern the licensing of producers, processors, and retailers. 

For more information, check the state Liquor Control Board’s information about I-502 implementation, which includes answers to frequently asked questions on marijuana licensing.

BLS Fees to Increase for First Time in 20 Years

The state Business Licensing Service is proposing the first fee increase in more than 20 years. The public hearing for this proposal is next month (CR-102, Rule 10101.pdf).
 

· Application Fee: from $15 to $19.

· Renewal Fee: from $9 to $11.

 
This fee increase is permitted by approved legislation.

Why is BLS increasing fees?

BLS is self-funded. The fees charged for applications and renewals pay for BLS operations. The fee increase was authorized to fund long-needed improvements to the BLS system and supports the long-term sustainability of BLS.
 
BLS will replace its current system over the next four years. This will add enhancements and flexibility for partners to manage licenses, generate on-demand reports, and update requirements more quickly.

When was this increase announced?

During several workshops and forums this spring, our staff discussed the proposed increase with dozens of cities and partner agencies. We will continue to keep all partners updated about its progress, including the timeline for the BLS system replacement.

When will this take effect?

The public hearing for the rule change is August 6 in Olympia. We expect the fee increase to take effect in late 2013. We will update you here with the effective date when it is known.
 
Please direct any questions or concerns to us. Thank you for your partnership.

~BLS Partnership Services

 

Changes to Paper Business License Application

Partners,

 

Several 2013 legislative measures affect the paper Business License Application (BLA). Each change will take effect at different times this year. Each requires a total replacement of stock.  We will be ordering small amounts of applications at each order point and limiting the amount issued to each partner. This cuts down on the amount of overstock recycled when new versions are distributed.

 

The first change takes effect on Sunday, July 28, 2013. 

This first change creates a shorter application for businesses that only want to add a minor work permit to their existing business location. To meet this requirement, we added instructions to the “Business Has or Will Have Employees Under Age 18” option on the paper application. 

The shorter Internet application version will be available Sunday, September 1, 2013.

 

We are distributing the new stock today. All staff should start using it on Monday, July 29, 2013. Recycle all old versions of the paper application at that time.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

 

Thank you.

 

Maria Moore

 

360/705-6641  

 

UPDATED: BLS Partner Email Box Not Working Friday

UPDATE: The email connectivity problem was fixed by Monday morning. Thanks for your patience.
--------------------
Partners,

If we didn't respond to your email Friday, please be patient.

We haven't seen it yet.

Our apologies. A connectivitity issue is preventing us from accessing our mailbox at dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov

We can still see messages sent to our personal mailboxes. And you can reach us at (360) 705-6777.

We expect the problem to be fixed over the weekend.

~BLS Partnership Services

UPDATED: Secure File Transfer systems issues Monday (sft.wa.gov)

Update at 5 p.m. Monday - The problem is resolved. Thank you for your patience.

----
We are experiencing occasional and temporary service interruptions with the Secure File Transfer service (Tumbleweed) at https://sft.wa.gov.

The state's technology service's division is working to resolve this issue today.

If you have immediate service needs for business licensing service files at sft.wa.gov, please let us know at dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov. We will be happy to assist.

~BLS Partnership Services

Possible Shutdown of State Government Operations

UPDATED 1 p.m., Thursday, June 27

Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee and Department of Revenue Director have confirmed there will be no shutdown of state government operations. Operations will continue as normal.

We will update you again *only* if there is an impact to BLS service delivery and processes.

Thank you for your patience in the past weeks as we dealt with contingency plans.

~BLS Partnership Services

---------------------
The state Legislature has not yet come to an agreement on a new operating budget. The Governor’s office remains hopeful for a final, signed budget by Sunday, June 30.

The Department of Revenue along with all state agencies has been asked to prepare for a worst-case scenario, a shutdown of state government.

Stoppage of BLS Services

If a budget is not passed, all business license applications, business license renewals, and online corporation registrations and renewals will be stopped at 5 p.m., Saturday, June 29.

Other impacts are:
 •Licensing fees and revenues will not be funded to partners.
 •Business licenses and renewals will not be mailed.
 •BLS staff will not be available.

 The BLS website will remain online. Also, partners will be able to access their designated BLS subsystems.

 Future Communications

We will update by Friday, June 28, about the status of the state budget. If you have questions, you may contact BLS Partnership Services this week at (360) 705-6777

Bon Voyage to Our BLS Hero



Join us in thanking Dennis Roth for 34 years of service, dedication, and expertise.

 We wish him well on his retirement from Business Licensing Service on June 30.

We are bidding fond farewell to a great colleague, problem-solver, systems guru, data conversion expert, friend, and much more.

Not only has Dennis provided outstanding service and knowledge for 34 years, he has also been an amazing teammate, trainer, and all-around business licensing institution. He will truly be missed!

 

Farewell, Dennis -- our BLS Hero!

 



BLS Focus Group: North Puget Sound - 1 pm June 26

If you were emailed an invitation, please...
...Join us for the City Business Licensing Focus Group - North Puget Sound

Where: Redmond City Hall - Council Conference Room 
Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Time: 1 pm, Pacific Daylight Time

Directions

Agenda

City Requirements Questions

Presentation

You're Invited to the 2013 BLS City Conference

Join us for the 2013 BLS City Conference.

RSVP NOW at dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov.

AGENDA

 

What to expect:

1:30 p.m. - 4:30 pm
Wednesday, June 12
Moses Lake Fire Department
• MLS/BLS updates since 2011
• Legislative updates
• System training with question/answer session
• Partner discussion

---

BLS Partner Conference is preceded by Department of Revenue Local Government Partnership Meeting

 

 

Glitch today with SFT.wa.gov "Tumbleweed"

Partners,

Our apologies for problems this morning with https://sft.wa.gov, which is often called "Tumbleweed."

There was a small glitch last night when an encryption certificate was updated. The error was fixed by 10 a.m. Wednesday.

We're very sorry for the delay in providing your data and reports. It's working now.

~BLS Partnership Services
 

BLS Focus Group: Southwest Washington - 1 pm Tuesday

If you were emailed an invitation, please...
...Join us for the City Business Licensing Focus Group - Southwest Washington


Where: City of Vancouver City Hall - Birch Conference Room
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Time: 1 pm, Pacific Daylight Time

Directions

Agenda

Presentation

City Requirements Questions

Credit Card Billings - Make Sure Your Payment Processes

BLS City Partners,

Credit card bills for the first quarter of 2013 are processed. The invoices will be sent to you soon. 

NOTE: Please include a copy of the invoice with your payment. 

Attaching the invoice will ensure you are credited for the payment.

Also, it prevents BLS payments from getting mixed up with tax payments, refunds or other funds.

Thank you,

~BLS Partnership Services

BLS Focus Group: Southeast Washington - 9 am Thursday

If you were emailed an invitation, please...
...Join us for the BLS Focus Group - Southeast Washington

Date: Thursday, May 9, 2013 

Time: 9 am, Pacific Daylight Time  
Place: Kennewick City Hall

Directions

Agenda

Presentation

City Requirements Questions

BLS Focus Group: South Puget Sound - 1 pm Wednesday

If you were emailed an invitation, please...
...Join us for the BLS Focus Group - South Puget Sound


Date: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 
Time: 1:00 pm, Pacific Daylight Time

Directions

Agenda

Presentation

City Requirements Questions

BLS City Focus Groups - May and June 2013

BLS City Focus Groups Take Place Around the State This Spring

Greetings,

If you're reading this, chances are you've been invited to participate in one of our 2013 BLS City Focus Groups.

Briefly, here are the agenda and the goals of the focus groups.

*** Web and teleconference information posted to BLSPartnerPost.com 8 hours before each meeting***

AGENDA

1. Provide BLS system and legislative updates to cities
2. Gather Business Licensing requirements from participating cities
3. Discussion
4. Recap and next steps

GOAL

To start collecting municipal business requirements for new BLS features that could support new "employee fee" licensing rates. We will also take steps to collect more data for home occupation businesses, nonprofit organizations, and public safety needs.

City Requirements Questions

WHEN AND WHERE

1 pm - Wednesday, May 8 - Fife City Hall - Puyallup Room

9 am - Thursday, May 9 - Kennewick City Hall - Council Chambers

1 pm - Tuesday, May 14 - Vancouver City Hall - Birch Conference Room

10 am - Tuesday, June 11 - East Wenatchee City Hall

1 pm - Wednesday, June 26 - Redmond City Hall - Council Conference Room.

Note: These meetings are at least three hours long. Please participate by phone or web for a portion if you can't join for the entire time

HOW TO JOIN

1) Come in person, or

2) Web conference or teleconference

*** Web and teleconference instructions posted to BLSPartnerPost.com 8 hours before each meeting***

QUESTIONS?
Email dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov

2013 Washington State Legislature Has Adjourned

As you may know, the 2013 Washington State Legislature has adjourned its 105-day session. The state’s Operating Budget and several policy issues remain unsettled.

Some proposals encouraging Washington cities to partner with state Business Licensing Service (BLS) or the so-called five city portal may still advance this year.

The Legislature will convene a special session on May 13 (Governor's Proclamation here). The session could last up to 30 days. BLS and the Department of Revenue will keep you updated about the outcome of these measures.

~BLS Partnership Services

Call the Tax and Licensing Experts





Get better access to our business licensing service and support.

Tax and licensing help are available online, by phone, and by email.

Here are some "go-to" numbers and email addresses for all your questions and inquiries.

Need some licensing account assistance?

The Specialty License Unit is the way to go!

Processing applications, renewals, and other miscellaneous correspondence from business owners

Specialty License Unit

360-705-6744
faxbls@dor.wa.gov

For business licensing questions for the public, give our Operation Call Center folks a call!

Operations Call Center:

1-800-451-7985
bls@dor.wa.gov

Need a BLS or SFT password reset? Our Service Desk folks are here to help!

360-596-3600, #2
DORDLSFTAdmin@dor.wa.gov

For all tax account inquiries:
1-800-647-7706

And let's not forget your friendly neighborhood Partnership Services Team!

• Report and File problems
• Contract requests
• New partnership
• Training - BLS and SFT systems

BLS Partnership Services
360-705-6777
dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov

Washington State Business Guide - 14,844 entrepreneurs can't be wrong

As the state's Business Licensing Service, we're very proud of the support we off to businesses online, by phone, and in-person at offices statewide.

And now we're even more proud that people are finding the information they need packaged in a useful way.

Several state agencies combined resources to build www.BizGuide.wa.gov, a step-by-step online illustration for planning and starting your business.

In just the first three months of 2013, exactly 14,844 unique visitors found resources and support at the State Business guide website.

Of those, nearly 4,000 of the self-starters linked to the resource from the state Business Licensing Service web portal at business.wa.gov/BLS. 

As always, send your suggestions to improve the information we provide. We're happy to hear your ideas and requests at BLS Partnership Services.

FIXED! Business Licensing and Tax Information Phone Numbers Not Working

As of 10:30 am, the phone lines were working again.

Business Licensing Service Support - 800.451.7985

Taxpayer Information Support - 800.647.7706

-----
Partners,

Our toll-free telephone information lines are temporarily down this morning.

This includes both Business Licensing Service phone support and Department of Revenue tax information support.

We apologize for the inconvenience. We are working to fix this as quickly as possible today.

Your staff can still reach BLS Partnership Services at 360.705.6777.

Also, you can email general questions.

General Public: Individual business licensing questions - bls@dor.wa.gov
Public employees: Licensing and renewal questions - faxbls@dor.wa.gov

 We'll update you when this is fixed.

Thank you in advance for your patience.

E-Check Payment Option

Greetings Partners,

We've already showed you how E-Check can save you thousands. Now let's get the word out to your local businesses!

Add E-Check information to your city websites and encourage businesses to use it. It's the online payment option that doesn't have any added service fee for your city.

Using E-Check means no credit card processing costs passed on to you. Help spread the word!

~BLS Partnership Services

Public Disclosure Pop Quiz Time!

Happy April, Partners!

Are you ready for a Monday pop quiz?

Check the boxes of business data that are “public information”:

◻ Mailing address
◻ Phone number
◻ Social Security Number

Ready for the answers?

Addresses are public, but phone numbers are considered private under state law.

And if you give out social security numbers to strangers, you should know the Brooklyn Bridge is *not* for sale and the Nigerian prince who emailed you is *not* going to share his inheritance.
Clear enough?  

Now, ready for some good news?

You don’t have to remember what is public information. Just go get the public file!

No fooling! We have a new public disclosure file for you with all the businesses registered in your city. In your SFT folder, there is a file called “CityPublic.csv” (for example, “BhamPublic.csv” for Bellingham).

It’s an Excel worksheet with a complete list of public information for your city businesses. It generates on the first business day of each month.

Lastly, if you want to know what’s OK to release publicly, here’s a list for you.

• Unified Business Identifier (UBI)
• Legal Entity
• Firm Name
• Mailing Address
• Physical Address
• Endorsement Expiration Date
• Endorsement Start Date
• Endorsement 1st Issue Date

All of those are in the public disclosure file for your city for free.

~BLS Partnership Services 

Welcome, Maple Valley!

The city of Maple Valley is home to more than 20,000 residents in northeastern King County. It’s a lush land of lakes, the Cedar River, and the Cascade foothills. With its location near the region’s biggest cities, the city still maintains its rural character. That’s why it dubs itself “Away from it All … In the Middle of Everything.”

Not surprisingly, Maple Valley is well regarded by locals and visitors alike. It was named one of the 10 Best Towns for Families in 2011 by Family Circle magazine.

Now, it’s an even better place for businesses. Maple Valley today becomes the 56th Washington State city partner for the business licensing service.

Welcome, Maple Valley! Our team looks forward to spending time in the middle of everything with you and your business community.


~BLS Partnership Services


City Business License Addendum (pdf)
City Fee Sheet -

CONFERENCE: SAVE THE DATE! Wednesday, June 12 - Business Licensing Service - City Partner Conference

SAVE THE DATE: June 12, 2013, in Moses Lake

ATTENTION: EASTERN WASHINGTON CITY PARTNERS!

We're please to announce our 2013 BLS City Partner Conference taking place on Wednesday, June 12 in Moses Lake.

Look for more information and invitations on Monday, May 20.

Secrecy Clause Reminder

Note: Form was updated to Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement in March 2023

--

Greetings Partners,

It's federal tax season. That means it's also a perfect time to brush up on our state Secrecy Clause requirements.

The Secrecy Clause, RCW 82.32.330, is the law that prohibits public employees from disclosing tax information about specific taxpayers to unauthorized people. This law also defines the circumstances documents may be disclosed and to whom.

All tax and tax return information is confidential and not disclosable to the public and without the taxpayer’s permission or other statutory authorization.

When you partnered with Business Licensing Service (or Master License Service), you signed an Agreement. By signing the affidavit, you acknowledged that you would protect the confidentiality of taxpayer records.

Our department and our staff pride ourselves on protecting the confidentiality of taxpayer information. We know you will continue to keep the promise of the Secrecy Clause to protect businesses from having their confidential information disclosed.

Thank you,

~BLS Partnership Services

DOR and BLS Websites Down Beginning Night of Feb 19.

Hello Partners!

The DOR and BLS websites will be down tonight, Tuesday, February 19, beginning at 8:00 pm until 6:00 am, Wednesday, February 20.

Thank you and enjoy you day!

~BLS Partnership Services

Dept of Revenue Closed for President's Day

Happy Presidents Day, Partners!

Dept of Revenue will be closed Monday, February 18, 2013, for Presidents Day.

In the meantime, drop by our website for all your
Business Licensing Needs.

Wishing you all a safe and happy weekend!

~BLS Partnership Services

ARDs - No more empty files

BLS Partners --

Good news! Starting Monday, we're offering more by giving you less.

You will no longer receive "empty" ARD files in your https://sft.wa.gov (Tumbleweed Secure Transport) folders.

We will continue to send you email notifications stating "0" when no ARDs were processed for that day. But there will be no "empty" document or file related to that notification in secure folders.

All files in your SFT folders will continue to be auto-deleted after 13 days.

We hope this makes tracking your files and documents simpler and more accurate.

~BLS Partnership Services

E-Check is $aving Partners Thou$and$

Partners,

We're pleased to announce a very positive trend that capped off 2012 for our partnership.

 We told in you in May that we had added E-Check as a payment option for applications and renewals.

Today, we're updating you with some cold calcuations that may warm your hearts.

From mid-May through December 2012, BLS processed 156,081 transactions.
Of that total, 43,455 were paid by E-Check (with no credit card processing costs passed on to partners).

The growth was very fast and quite positive, with about 30% of transactions paid by E-Check since it was first offered.

More than $3.8 million of the total $12.9 million processed was paid by E-Check. That saved BLS and its partners about $95,000 in total processing fees. We'll continue our work to serve you better by saving you money!

Here's a look at the 2012 numbers: 

% of E-Check Transactions in 2012









 

 

 

Dec -- 34%

Nov -- 32%

Oct -- 35%

Sept -- 33%

Aug -- 30%

July -- 27%

June -- 26%

May -- 17%

• 
   

 



BLS Report - New Electronic Incomplete Accounts report in .csv format

BLS continues to update and provide your reports in more efficient Excel formats!

Beginning Monday, February 4, BLS agency partners will begin receiving another version of the Incomplete Report in a comma separated value (.csv) format. We may eventually update this file to available for all city partners, also.

All partners will continue to receive the MS Word document (.doc) paper report in your SFT daily report. The new document is an additional file available to you in a new Excel friendly .csv format.

The good news is that the .csv files require no copy or paste to convert the data to an Excel format. As soon as you click to open the .csv file in your SFT folder, it will open up as an Excel worksheet!

If you have questions regarding this release, please email us at DORBLSPartner@dor.wa.gov.

Fixing the SecureAccess Connectivity Issue - Clear Cache

CLEAR YOUR CACHE TO ACCESS THE BLS SYSTEM 

Partners -

What can we say? Sorry for all the updates about systems issues. There have been a lot lately.

We're operating at 100% this week. Most of you should be able to access the BLS system to approve licenses.

But if accessing the BLS system via https://secureaccess.wa.gov dead ends at a blank black screen, clearing the cache can help.

If you would like help with this process or have questions, let us know. We're ready to help

~BLS Partnership Services
360.705.6777

UPDATE: SecureAccess.wa.gov Accessibility Issues

We learned the SecureAccess connectivity issue was limited to city partners who may need to clear their cache in order to get the system back online. Sorry for yet another problem this month.
----
Greetings,

Some of our city partners are experiencing issues with SecureAccess.wa.gov.

We are in the midst of contacting Consolidated Technology Services (CTS) to see if there are still issues and will continue to update here and via email once we receive further information.


Thank you for your patience,
~BLS Partnership Services

SecureAccess.wa.gov is Now Available

Greetings Partners,

Consolidated Technology Services (CTS) resolved the issue and Secure Access Washington is back online.

All SAW and HOD services are functional.

Sorry for yet another systems outage, all should be good to go now!

~BLS Partnership Services

UPDATE: SecureAccess.wa.gov Temporarily Down

Consolidated Technology Services (CTS) has informed us that they've had a major event and not sure when services will be available.


Please contact BLS Partnership Services, 360-705-6777 or dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov at this time for any assistance with your accounts.

Thank you again for your patience.

________________________________________________________________________________

Greeting Partners,

Secure Access Washington is temporarily down.

Our state partner Consolidated Technology Services (CTS) is aware of the issue.

We will keep you posted on when the services will be available once again.

Thank you for your patience.

We may be able to assist you at 360-705-6777.

~BLS Partnership Services

OST Distributions 1/22 will be Combined with 1/25 Distributions

Greetings Partners,

As you were made aware, we had some connectivity issues in the past week. As a precaution, we temporarily discontinued some reporting processes.

To simply reporting going forward, the Office of State Treasurer (OST) distributions for Tuesday, Jan. 22, will be combined with the Friday, Jan. 25 distributions. There will be no difference in the combined deposit, of course.

Combination will include:

• Cancelled 1/22 distributions
• Regularly scheduled 1/25 distributions

Thank you for your patience.

~BLS Partnership Services

Dept of Revenue Closed on MLK Day

Greetings Partners,

Dept of Revenue is closed for the Martin Luther King Day holiday on Monday, January 21, 2013.

Wishing you all a safe and happy weekend!


~BLS Partnership Services

BLS Systems Maintenance Tonight

Partners,

We're starting our BLS systems spring cleaning a couple months early.

Some systems maintenance starts tonight (Thursday) at 6 p.m. and wraps up at 6 a.m. Friday.
During that time, expect DOR websites to be offline for such services as:

• Business Licensing (BLS)
• DOR email (including BLS)
• DOR.WA.GOV
• E-file
• My Account 
• Select others

Once we clean out the cobwebs and polish the surfaces, we'll be back and ready to go on Friday morning.

Thanks for understanding.

Best,

~BLS Partnership Services

No funds and no EFT files transferred today (sft.wa.gov)

Due to systems downtime this week, no funds were transferred from the Office of State Treasurer to your city’s account Tuesday.

 

Also, no related EFT files are in the Tumbleweed Secure File Transfer folders at https://sft.wa.gov.

 

Accumulated funds transfers will continue as usual later this week. All funds, including those that would otherwise have transferred today, will be in your city’s next deposit.

 

We apologize for the delay and inconvenience.

 

~BLS Partnership Services

BLS Systems Restored - Tuesday Afternoon

Good afternoon,

 

This message is current for all BLS Partners as of 3 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 15

 

BLS systems are now back online. We are in full operation to support you and your customers.

 

One remaining issue: Customers calling the 1-800-451-7985 number may not get through immediately due to call volumes. Advise them to hang up and call back immediately. They will be connected eventually.

 

Reports and files accessed via https://sft.wa.gov are available and up-to-date.

 

The Partnership Services team is working to process requests and catch up. If you need immediate assistance, please call 360.705.6735.

 

~BLS Partnership Services