BLS Partner Post - December 2021 Update

BLS staff are available weekdays to serve your city, town, or agency. Be sure to email dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov with any recent changes to your staff or licensing requirements. Meanwhile, your business customers can call 360-705-6741 or go to dor.wa.gov/contact-us for live chat answers to specific account questions.

BLS has experienced a lot of change since 2018 by adding more than 100 new local partners and significant systems enhancements. But the staff commitment to service in the coming year will be as steady as always. 

Happy 2022 to all our BLS partners.

Reminder: 2022 deposit dates are set

Dates for the 2022 local government fund deposits are set by the Office of State Treasurer (OST).  BLS collects city and agency licensing funds to remit to OST. Local governments then get funds deposited by OST into the bank account where they get tax revenues in a matter of days.

Download the complete deposit and distribution information here. 

Revenue’s Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report

The Department has published its Annual Report for the 2021 fiscal year. The report details Revenue Director Vikki Smith’s leadership approach to fulfill the agency’s mission and, in turn, support the economic recovery of Washington businesses. 

“Throughout the adversity caused by the pandemic, agency staff continued to serve. I am incredibly proud of all that we accomplished,” Smith said.

The report has sections on the agency:

• Response to Covid-19
• Support for the state Tax Structure Work Group
• National award-winning Business Licensing Service team.

The report is on the agency website here. 

37 cities connect to BLS in 2021

Another 37 local partners joined the state's premier licensing service this year. By early spring, BLS will boast more than 200 city and town partners serving hundreds of thousands of businesses across Washington State. 

Electric City near Grand Coulee Dam is our newest BLS partner. Next month, the town of Winthrop in the picturesque Methow Valley will be the first partner of 2022. See the complete list of Fiscal Year 2022 local partners here.

BLS earns praise from business partners

BLS supports more than 600 different license types in cities, towns, and state agency divisions. We are grateful to serve those working on behalf of Washington businesses. In their own words, here are some partners' compliments for the BLS Partnership Services Team in 2021. We appreciate your kindness, professionalism, and partnership.

Thank you all for an award-winning and gratifying year.

“We know that our community will greatly appreciate this new and much more convenient process.” ~ Angela Birney, Redmond Mayor 

“BLS made sure that our needs were met and that the system really works for us. Every comment and detail we shared about our internal process was taken into account and the system has already alleviated our workload.” ~ Cheyenne Pantoja-Wright, City of Bingen, former Clerk-Treasurer

“Everything is going well because (the BLS system) is super easy to navigate.” ~ Deanna Syron, City of North Bonneville, Chief Administrative Officer

“My staff is very happy with the reports. We are finding more options that we didn’t know we needed. It’s like going into Costco!” ~ Amy Conger, Moxee City Clerk

“From a business perspective, it’s so nice to have the endorsements in a one-stop. It’s not logging into two different places. It’s not remembering two passwords. It’s easy and it’s definitely the way to go.” ~ Michael Goodnow, Bremerton City Councilmember, and Bremerton Downtown Association president

“It’s pretty streamlined. We actually save some money. The city ends up saving $25,000 to $35,000 per year.” ~ Andrea Spencer, Bremerton Director of Community Development

“Anytime you have to engage the locals in a streamlined process and you make it happen, that’s a victory. (Cities and towns) have different systems, different processes, and yet (BLS staff) worked out an awesome result.” ~ Federation of Tax Administrators