7 a.m. Friday: SAW & My DOR maintenance

Partners —

ATLAS Partner Portal will be down early tomorrow as scheduled maintenance is complete.

Both portal gateway sites will be unavailable:
7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.,
Friday, November 30.

SAW  — https://secureaccess.wa.gov
My DOR — https://secure.dor.wa.gov

~BLS Partnership Services

'Signature' City of Kirkland Joins BLS

​The place once nicknamed “the little city that could” is powering up its economic engine on the eastern banks of Lake Washington.

The Business Licensing Service today adds Kirkland – the state’s 12th largest city by population – as a local partner. Nearly 10,000 companies do business in the city of Kirkland annually. It is consistently rated by publications, such as USA Today, as one of the country's most livable cities.

Kirkland is the original headquarters of the  Seattle Seahawks and Costco, currently number 15 in the Fortune 500. The previously little city is still the reason that "Kirkland Signature" is the Costco house brand that is well-known across the continent.

Kirkland is BLS's 83rd city partner. About one-third of all cities statewide work with BLS for local licensing. By January 2020, about half of Washington cities that license businesses locally will be BLS partners.

2019 Local Government Fund Distribution Dates

Local Funding Dates 

The Office of State Treasurer posted its 2019 local fund distribution schedule.

Access the spreadsheet at bit.ly/LocalFunds2019 to see distribution dates and deposit dates.

The spreadsheet is not optimized for printing. Download and save it. A printable 4-page pdf is here.

City staff can track funds for these distribution and deposit dates with the Account Financial Control Summary report in the ATLAS Partner Portal.

~BLS Partnership Services

Use My DOR for Partner Portal Access, not SAW

Partners,

If you are having problems accessing ATLAS Partner Portal using Secure Access Washington (SAW), please log in through My DOR, https://secure.dor.wa.gov/home/. 

The recent systems update may have affected access to ATLAS Partner Portal through SAW. 

We will keep you posted once the issues have been fixed.

 Thank you,

~BLS Partnership Services

Quick Bill Pay Service Coming Tuesday

Partners--

The new Quick Bill Pay service for businesses launches Tuesday.

With Quick Bill Pay, businesses can pay account balances without logging in to My DOR.

Businesses can bookmark the new service at dor.wa.gov/quickbillpay. The web-based service saves steps in making payments on outstanding balances for some new applications and license renewals.
Businesses need to:

1. Enter a Letter ID (in the upper-right of many BLS letters).
2. Enter an Account ID (usually the business Unified Business Identifier [UBI]).
3. Click the box to confirm authority to make the account payment.
4. Enter bank account information and click Submit.
5. Save the confirmation code.

 Businesses must save or print their confirmation code if they want to track payments at dor.wa.gov/searchsubmission without calling the department or logging into My DOR.

REMINDER: My DOR is down Saturday thru Monday

My DOR down for maintenance Nov. 10 – 13

Our online business licensing and tax filing system, My DOR, will be down for maintenance from:
11:59 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9
to
8 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13.

My DOR is the secure portal for all online services that businesses use to access their tax and business licensing accounts.

My DOR unavailable over Veterans Day weekend

The Department of Revenue’s My DOR portal will be unavailable during a systems upgrade from Saturday through Monday of the Veterans Day holiday weekend.

My DOR scheduled down time:

11:59 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9 through

8 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13.

My DOR is the secure portal for all online services for business to access tax and business licensing accounts.

More information about the systems update is at dor.wa.gov/tlsr.

~BLS Partnership Services

SFT down all Sunday & Monday

WaTech Alert - Secure File Transport will be down Oct. 14 and Oct. 15

Update: SFT service is operating normally as of Monday morning

Partners —
Reminder that all partners using the via https://sft.wa.gov service will be unable to get data on Sunday and Monday. WaTech will keep  users updated at this link.

~ BLS Partnership Services

UPDATE: BLS Partner Email is Fixed

Washington Technology Services (WaTech) Systems Notice

UPDATE:
The email issue is fixed. Thank you for your patience as we work through our backlog of messages and service requests.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Partners:

Our primary email box – dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov – has not been accessible since the weekend.

A server issue with our provider is being repaired overnight Monday.

More information is posted here: http://support.watech.wa.gov/shared-services-email-in181000056

We apologize for any inconvenience and delay in getting your issues resolved.

We will update you again Tuesday as we find out more.

~BLS Partnership Services

Yelm Joins 20+ South Sound Cities in BLS Partnership

As the equinox approaches, the jigsaw puzzle pieces connecting South Sound businesses are falling into place.

Today, BLS welcomes the city of Yelm the newest local licensing partner. Dubbed "The Pride of the Prairie," Yelm is linking its 1600 businesses to the same service used by 20+ communities in Lewis, Mason, Pierce, and Thurston counties. Yelm is the 82nd partner city to add the service where local businesses can apply for more than 400 different required registrations in a single transaction. Businesses also use their secure My DOR account to login to renew all of these licenses and report state taxes in a streamlined online process. 

Revenue supported Yelm with the implementation of a new fee-exempt licensing process for select businesses that qualify. The agency is implementing similar solutions for all its local licensing partners this year as required under Chapter 35.90.080 RCW.

BLS Partner Update - September

BLS presents at WFOA conference this week

BLS will join the Washington Finance Officers Association (WFOA) annual conference on Wednesday, Sept. 19. BLS is part of the presentation “Preparing to Streamline your City’s Business License” at 11:10 a.m. in the Vancouver Conference Center. The content will help cities manage the conditions of Chapter 35.90 RCW, the new law aimed at making licensing easier for Washington businesses.

AWC is best resource for model ordinance implementation

The model ordinance language that municipalities must adopt was composed and vetted by experts at the Association of Washington Cities (AWC). The association led a stakeholder group to standardize the definition of engaging in business and create an income threshold at which cities could require an out-of-city business to register for a local business license. BLS cities have a deadline of Oct. 17 for adoption. Others have a Dec. 31 deadline.
Got questions? Visit the AWC website, review its resource paper or contact the experts at 360.753.4137.

2019 fee changes require advance notice

As your city considers its 2019 budget, remember that changes to business licensing fees and requirements *cannot* immediately take effect. Under RCW 35.90, BLS may make programming changes “no sooner than 75 days” after getting notification. Email dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov to obtain the Partner Change Request form needed to update BLS of change to your license process. We will help you get started and plan the effective dates for any changes your city makes.

New disclaimer on reports Launchpad

Most taxpayer information is confidential and bound by conditions of state and federal law. As a reminder, we have posted this disclaimer on the reports Launchpad: “Partner Reports - Contain confidential information. Unauthorized disclosure is subject to penalty under law. RCW 19.02.115; RCW 82.32.330.”

'Christmastown, USA' connects to BLS

Surrounded by acres of evergreen trees, the city of Shelton is nicknamed "Christmastown, USA" due to its best-selling seasonal offering – Christmas trees.

Today, the Business Licensing Service (BLS) welcomes "Christmastown" and its nearly 1,700 businesses to state's business licensing one-stop.

Shelton, the westernmost city on Puget Sound, has linked its commerce community with more than a dozen South Sound cities that streamline applications and renewals with BLS. Businesses can now link required registrations – such as those needed to sell live Christmas trees –  required state license to the city of Shelton's general business license thanks to BLS partnership.

Another South Sound city – Yelm – joins next week. 

BLS helps businesses manage more than 400 different required registrations via the secure My DOR portal, which is also used for state tax reporting. Find out more at bls.dor.wa.gov/.

Lewis County's Twin Cities Connect Businesses

The twin commerce centers of Lewis County are now more closely connected than ever.

The state Business Licensing Service today welcomes Chehalis and its nearly 1000 business to the local partnership that combines licensing to streamline service to business.

Centralia joined the partnership in early August and neighboring city Napavine will join in 2019. Next year, businesses operating in all three cities can renew their local licenses in a single online process to save time and effort.

Option 1 or Option 2: Adopt your ordinance by Oct. 17

BLS City Partners--

Here's a quick rundown of your next steps for implementing the model ordinance required by Chapter 35.90.080 RCW.
This ordinance impacts non-resident businesses in your city, which means it affects only the businesses that do not have a location in city limits. 
The new rules start in January so non-resident businesses will better understand if they are subject to your city's licensing requirements.

Dates

• Oct. 17, 2018: Adopt the ordinance and threshold by this deadline (BLS cities only).
• Jan. 1, 2019: Model ordinance for "engaging in business" and income threshold to require licensing are implemented.

Options

• Option 1: License Exempt Under Threshold license with a fee charged only to out-of-city businesses that exceed a revenue threshold of $2000 (or greater depending on your city's requirements). Businesses that don't exceed the income threshold won't get your city license.
• Option 2: No-Fee Under Threshold license for non-resident businesses below a revenue threshold of $2000 or greater depending on your city's requirements. 

By now you know you must adopt the model ordinance language and a revenue threshold at which businesses are required to seek a business license in your city.

If your city will require licenses for businesses outside city limits after January 1, 2019, you may choose from two license types. You may also choose not to license out-of-city businesses.

We recommend contacting Association of Washington Cities (AWC) for guidance on code adoption. See the AWC's White Paper here. AWC Phone: 360.753.4137

Partnership Plan Updated for Fiscal Year 2019

The state Business Licensing Service has published a Fiscal Year 2019 update to its 2018-2019 Partnership Plan.

The new plan, which advances the plan first issued in December, lists more cities for prospective partnership through June 2019. It also adjusts the report cycle to coincide with Washington State's fiscal year of July through June. The list of current partners is on the BLS website.

BLS will continue to provide progress reports to lawmakers and stakeholders each year as required under Chapter 35.90 RCW.

Our team is working to add more than 140 cities to partnership by the end of December 2022. Cities wishing to join BLS partnership in Fiscal Year 2020 should contact BLS Partnership Services at dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov or 360.705.6777.

32+ cities will be added in FY 2020. Some have begun the partnership process.
Another 16+ partnership "slots" remain for FY 2020.

Model Ordinance - Requesting Your New BLS License Type

BLS City Partners -

We are preparing to handle changes necessary to implement the model ordinance and threshold standards required by Chapter 35.90.080 RCW. This change affects non-resident businesses, which are businesses that don't have a location in your city limits.

If your city will requires licenses non-resident businesses in 2019 you may choose from two license types with BLS.

Option 1: License Exempt Under Threshold license with a fee charged only to non-resident businesses that exceed a revenue threshold of $2000 (or greater depending on your city's requirements). Businesses not exceeding the income threshold will not get your city license.

Option 2: No-Fee Under Threshold license for non-resident businesses below a revenue threshold of $2000 or greater depending on your city's requirements. 

You may also choose not to license out-of-city businesses at all.


Important: You must have your code updated and approved by Oct. 17, 2018, including notifying BLS of the changes.


The Association of Washington Cities (AWC) led the work on implementation of the model ordinance and threshold limits. Connect to AWC for guidance on code review and adoption.

AWC White Paper (pdf)

AWC Phone: 360.753.4137
AWC Staff Contacts:
Andrew Pittelkau - Government Relations Analyst 
Victoria Lincoln – Government Relations Advocate
Sheila Gall– General Counsel


~ BLS Partnership Services

Centralia adds service to boost business licensing

The place where the Skookumchuck River pours into the Chehalis River became an important Northern Pacific railroad station in the late 19th Century. It gave rise to a new city along the rail line. Sitting midway between Seattle and Portland, the city was aptly incorporated as Centralia in 1886, just three years before Washington State joined the union.

Today, Centralia joins the union of cities connecting commerce and licensing compliance as part of the state's Business Licensing Service (BLS).

Home to more than 1500 businesses, the biggest community in Lewis County joins its Southwest Washington neighbors in Thurston, Cowlitz, and Clark counties. The contiguous city of Chehalis also joins BLS this month. Local businesses can now apply for licenses in nearly 80 cities in a single process with a streamlined annual renewal for both state and city registrations.

New look for SecureAccess.wa.gov

The SecureAccess.wa.gov (SAW) portal will get a new look starting Thursday. The SAW changes will not affect the look or functionality of the My DOR portal.


The SAW changes are focused on improving the customer experience. The new SAW portal will show the Washington state logo, improving the display on mobile devices, and offer enhanced help features.

The update is slated to be complete by 8 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 3.

Model Ordinance Update

citypartners.dor.wa.gov
We will provide regular updates this year about the model ordinance and revenue threshold adoption requirements and deadlines.

We will post news at BLS Partner Post as it becomes available. More webinars will be set to help cities prepare for the changes required by RCW 35.90.080.

SAVE THE DATE!

Association of Washington Cities Webinar
Prepare to streamline your business license
10:30 a.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 8
Registration required. Free to AWC members.
Who should attend?
Finance directors, clerks, city managers/administrators, business license officials, and elected officials.

Bainbridge Island builds a bridge for business

Roads and bridges connect Bainbridge Island to its neighboring waterfront communities. As of today, Bainbridge Island commerce is also connected statewide via the Business Licensing Service (BLS).

Just a short ferry ride from the Northwest's biggest metro area, Bainbridge Island hosts more than 3000 businesses along its miles of waterfront and forested hillsides.

The city joins nearly 80 cities in linking to the state’s business licensing “one-stop.” Island businesses can now apply for more than 400 different state and local business registrations in a single transaction. They can also use their secure My DOR account login renew all of these licenses quickly in a streamlined online process.

Bainbridge Island supports its civic endeavors with a local business and occupation (B&O) tax. By 2020, most local jurisdictions that levy a local B&O tax will use BLS data for increasing compliance with licensing regulation and tax registration. The data is connected to the state Department of Revenue's local tax data in the same system, which is provided for free to BLS partner cities.

Revenue news release

UPDATED:New Model Ordinance Information Webinar

Deck for the July 11 webinar is here.

--
Join BLS for our first webinar to help you with the model ordinance language to implement the requirements of RCW 35.90.080. This ordinance affects almost every city in Washington State.

• 30-minute meeting *plus* time for Q&A. 
• Association of Washington Cities (AWC) expert will be on-hand for complete information. 
• Join by phone or web. No registration - just click.

3 p.m., July 11, 2018.

WEBEX MEETING LINK 

Meeting number (access code): 802 998 543

Meeting password: Training#123

JOIN BY PHONE

1-240-454-0887

Meeting number (access code): 802 998 543 

AWC Handout - June 28
AWC Presentation - June 28

Address information in BLS Reports

Partners--

We have seen some data export issues in Atlas Partner Portal. In particular, we are looking at the Partner Welcome File.

Address information exported is sometimes incomplete. It may be missing suite numbers or apartment numbers, especially if these are on a separate line from the street address.

We are working to identify and fix these issues. If your office notices issues with Atlas reports or gets returned mail due to using bad addresses, please send a screen-capture or a description of the issue to:
dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov.  

Thanks in advance for your help.

~BLS Partnership Services

Lakewood is the top recruit for BLS

The city of Lakewood, home to both thousands of Armed Forces families and regional businesses, is the newest Washington State community to enlist the Business Licensing Service.

The recruitment of Lakewood connects local business licenses with required state program registrations. The Pierce County city of 60,000 borders Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the fourth largest domestic U.S. military base with about 200,000 people.

More than 20 South Sound cities in Mason, Pierce and Thurston counties will soon be connected in the state's business licensing “one-stop.” Puyallup joined in May, while Orting, Shelton, Yelm and others link up by early 2019.

The constellation of South Sound cities streamlines application and renewal processes for businesses working in various local jurisdictions.

Welcome City of Puyallup!

The Home of the Washington State Fair is trotting out a new service for its business community. The city of Puyallup gallops into Business Licensing Service (BLS) partnership today. Puyallup is the 14th Pierce County community to join BLS. Neighbors Lakewood and Orting will join soon. The cluster South Sound of partner communities is a benefit to businesses like contractors. BLS brings state and local licensing requirements together in the state's combined licensing “one-stop" for businesses.

BLS City Partner Workshops in June

Registration is now closed. Thank you for your interest.

Join us!

This June, the state Business Licensing Service (BLS) is hosting three local business licensing workshops for our existing and future city partners. To save your time, workshops follow the Department of Revenue’s Local Government Partnership meetings in Tumwater and Kennewick. 

A stand-alone workshop will be in Marysville, also. Select the city below where you would like to join.

This is a great opportunity to get updates on legislation affecting local business license requirements, as well as see demonstrations of licensing system features. We will have time for your questions, too.

Agenda 

• 2018 legislation update
• BLS city partnership planning
• Revenue’s Tax and Licensing Systems Replacement
• ATLAS Partner Portal demo
• Q&A

Locations & Registration - Click the city name to register

Marysville 

Date: Thursday, June 7, 2018
Time: 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Location: Marysville City Hall, City Council Chambers, 1049 State Ave., Marysville, WA 98270  (map)

Tumwater – Webinar available 

Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. (follows Local Government Partnership meeting)
Location: Revenue headquarters, 6400 Linderson Way SW, Suite #114, Tumwater, WA 98501 (map)
This meeting will also be offered via WebEx.

Kennewick 

Date: Thursday, June 14, 2018
Time: 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (follows Local Government Partnership meeting)
Location: Kennewick City Hall, City Council Chambers, 210 W 6th Avenue, Kennewick, WA 99336 (map)

Questions?

Contact BLS Partnership Services at dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov.

No more combined tax and license balances in Partner Portal

The combined tax and license debt no longer viewable to agency and city partners. These balance fields are removed from ATLAS Partner Portal.

This is an update to information shared in March for Rollout 2 of the Systems Replacement project.

Banner information –  red, all-caps notes stating Request for Payment, Non-Sufficient Funds, etc. – will still show at the Account Level (green bar). The combined balanced of debt and credit on the tax account will not display, however, for improved security.

Image 1

Combined tax account balance information is no longer displayed at the Customer Level in ATLAS Partner Portal.
The image above shows the fields that are suppressed for account security.

Image 2

The slides presented in March 2019 for ATLAS Rollout 2 have been updated.

BLS Partner Updates - April 2018

Business license application processing resumes

New look for My DOR splash screen

ATLAS Partner Portal now includes excise tax information as the Tax and Licensing Systems Replacement project completes its second phase called "Rollout 2."
BLS’s application processing resumed Monday, March 19. Revenue’s phone call volume remains high as thousands of taxpayers register for the My DOR service and report quarterly taxes.
The Partnership Services team is here to help you with ATLAS issues. Partner cities and agency programs with questions about  system instructions, license requirements, and service requests should email dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov. Businesses with customer service and license account questions should call 1-800-451-7985 or email bls@dor.wa.gov.

ATLAS reports reorganized for ease

Two reports menus for partners

With Rollout 2, enhancements made to the Reports Launchpad in ATLAS Partner Portal make it easier to use. The new reports manager alphabetized the reports and split them in two lists for City and State Agency users. The city list of 20 reports includes statistics reports to help you track your staff work and changes to businesses in your city. The reports in the Agency list view will vary by the state agency or program where you work.

City of Interest Report enhanced

Local governments can check for unlicensed local businesses with the City of Interest report in the City Reports Launchpad. The upgraded report now runs in seconds. Any city can get a list of businesses within their locality that do not have an active city business license.

2018 Local Government Partnership Meetings 

Revenue’s 2018 Local Government Partnership Meetings are scheduled for June. Get more information and register at dor.wa.gov/localgovernment. The link is located on the right side of the web page.
The meetings are our opportunity to update you about legislative changes, service enhancements and systems updates.
NEW FOR 2018: Business Licensing Service updates will be included in these meetings. We will post more information and the workshop agenda on the BLS Partner Post this month.

New Business Lookup tool delivers great results

The Department of Revenue’s improved search tool is ready to use. It is easy to find online at https://dor.wa.gov/businesslookup. Business Licenses, tax accounts, reseller permits, governing people, and trade names merged into a simple interface displaying all public information in the search results.

Puyallup and Lakewood join BLS this spring

With ATLAS Rollout 2 finishing up, BLS staff will return to adding new city partners in the upcoming months. Next up: Puyallup and Lakewood. By summer 2018, 16 of the 21 cities entirely within Pierce County will be connected to BLS, with Orting scheduled to join next year.

UPDATED: No more receipt books for business licensing at city halls

Updated to clarify process change is for BLS city partners only.

Effective immediately, Department of Revenue receipt books are no longer used.

All business licensing payments made at the city can be paid by check and sent in pre-printed envelopes addressed to the Business Licensing Service. Postage will be required.

Get pre-printed envelopes by contacting the BLS Partnership Services team.

The updated process is better for auditing with no delay between processing payment and reconciling receipts. The applicant's check, which is imaged and saved by Revenue, serves as the receipt. The change reduces work by staff and decreases the time that applicants must wait at the service desk.

The fastest and most secure application process is online bls.dor.wa.gov/.

Return your receipt books and stamps

Any remaining receipt books and stamps should be handed over to a Revenue office or returned by mail to:

DOR-BLS
ATTN: Partnership Services
PO BOx 47478
Olympia WA 98504-7478

~BLS Partnership Services

ATLAS Rollout 2 - Updates to Users and Customers

UPDATE: FAQ now available. Answers to questions we've heard from our customers since March 19.

Partners-

Thanks to those of you who joined us for the ATLAS Rollout 2 information sharing webinars.

Content from these webinars is now available.

• Video (YouTube) or click the video below
• PowerPoint Notes Pages 

If you need information about becoming an security administrator for your city or agency program,  download the Partner Security Access Instructions.

~BLS Partnership Services

My DOR portal slow Tuesday morning

Partners—

Customers accessing My DOR site are getting slower than normal response times. Some are seeing “a network error has occurred” error message.

This affects all users of My DOR, including taxpayers, business license customers, and BLS Partners at agencies and cities. You may need to refresh your web browser -- push the F5 key -- if you get an error message.

Revenue's Information Services Division is working to resolve the issue. We will update of any changes. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Service speed is slow. Refresh the page [F5] if you get an error.

~BLS Partnership Services 

ATLAS Rollout 2-Info Sharing: March 19 and March 26

WEBINAR VIDEO

ATLAS Rollout 2 adds new features and updates your security access process.

To help you get ready, BLS will host partner information sharing sessions.

Slide Deck 

Partner Security Access

Join by webinar on either of the next two Monday mornings.

#1 Agenda & WEBINAR LINK
9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Monday, March 19, 2018

#2 Agenda & WEBINAR LINK
9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Monday, March 26, 2018

March 13: Application Processing Suspended One Week

Partners—

Coming March 19, 2018, Revenue’s  Tax and Licensing Systems Replacement project completes its second phase. 

Taxpayers will be able to access tax account information and business license information in one location using My DOR.

During the transition, BLS staff will not be processing business license applications starting Tuesday, March 13, through the morning of Monday, March 19.

Our team is working very hard to advance all business license applications received up through Monday, March 12.

When we are able to start processing on March 19, our main focus will be the business license applications received in the prior week.

Thank you in advance for your patience.

~BLS Partnership Services

ATLAS Rollout 2 Launches March 19

On March 19, 2018, the Washington State Department of Revenue launches ATLAS Rollout 2 to integrate business license applications, renewals, and excise tax filings into one system, My DOR.

For business planning, please note: the BLS Partner Portal and My DOR will be unavailable from the evening of Friday, March 16, through the afternoon of Monday, March 19.

Notice was sent to customers with their license renewal reminder.

Avoid delays

Encourage your customers to go online and complete their Business License Application and/or renewal before 5 p.m. Friday, March 16. Online services resume on the afternoon of Monday, March 19.

City addendum form updated

We recently simplified and updated the City Addendum form to remove redundancies and add questions asking:

• If the business qualifies for a fee exemption.

• If the business qualifies for a small business endorsement.

• Gross income at the business location.

Business license renewal notices will also ask for location gross income. The answer is required only for cities with income reporting requirements.

Application and renewal forms requested from the BLS Call Center (1-800-451.7985) or Business Licensing Wizard will include all required documents and fee instructions.

Thank you,

~BLS Partnership Services

BLS February Update

Seasoned Service Leader Rejoins BLS

BLS is pleased to welcome back Katie Early, a seasoned licensing systems expert, as the Partnership Services Manager. Her appointment is effective February 1. Katie served as BLS Customer Service Manager for three years before accepting a leadership position at Department of Licensing in July.

She returns as Revenue rolls out the next phase of its tax and licensing system replacement and is poised to add more than 20 city partners in the next two years.

Katie is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt ready to take on process improvement projects and lead her team of seven. She is a die-hard Seahawks fan and former Starbucks manager who internalized the coffee giant’s institutional values such as connecting to others with respect, being accountable, and delivering the best possible customer service.

Mukilteo joins as the 75^th BLS city partner

A city of gentle hills, Puget Sound vistas, and a historical lighthouse, Mukilteo is the 75^th city to connect its business registration program to the state Business Licensing Service.

The scenic city of 20,000 is west of Everett and connected to Whidbey Island by Washington State Ferries. It starts BLS partnership on February 1.

BLS city partner plan posted online

More than 20 new cities will be using BLS for their licensing programs by the end of 2019. The new onboarding schedule is the result of Engrossed House Bill 2005, approved in spring 2017.

Find the final plan at citypartners.dor.wa.gov. Partnership is prioritized for cities in queue prior to January 2017, as required by the legislation. BLS will update stakeholders of its plan progress in December.

BLS will issue a new city onboarding plan for 2020-2021 at the end of next year.

File taxes online with My DOR this spring

My DOR will be the secure portal for all online services for the Department of Revenue. For the first time, businesses will be able to access their tax and business licensing accounts with the same login starting this spring.

The Department’s current online service portal, called My Account, will be retired. Taxpayers will begin filing electronically and accessing their tax accounts in My DOR after March 19, 2018.

Ad hoc reports list 'Location Email'

 The “Location Email” field is now publishing to most ad hoc reports in ATLAS Partner Portal.

Some businesses will have blank Location Email fields in the ad hoc reports if the information was not required when the application or business information change was submitted. If provided, "Contact Email" may display within the system's Account and Customer screens. Those email addresses are not exported to ad hoc reports.

Reminder: Both email addresses and phone numbers are considered non-public fields. They may not be shared outside your regulatory program or municipal office.

Updated Reports –

•       City Fire Department (city only)
•        Partner All Status
•        Partner Delinquent Endorsements
•        Partner Incomplete endorsements
•        Partner Pending Approvals
•         Partner Licensee (city only)
•        Partner Welcome
•        Program Licensee (state agency only)

BLS adds Pasco to connect all Tri-Cities' commerce

The city of Pasco today joins BLS as the 74th city partner in the state’s combined licensing solution. Kennewick and Richland are longtime partners along with many other southeast Washington cities.

Pasco is home to 70,000 residents at the convergence of the Snake and Columbia rivers, an area trailblazed by Lewis and Clark in 1805. Today, a series of bridges connect the Tri-Cities and more than 10,000 thriving businesses, which can now access local licensing services with BLS’s online offerings.

Cables on the Ed Hendler Bridge form iconic triangles over the Columbia River.
The so-called Intercity Bridge that connects Pasco with Kennewick is a well-known Tri-Cities landmark.