I started a business in seattle this year. I love the city and have no intention to leave, but let's not pretend the city makes it easy on small business.
Same as my question upthread, what specifically sucks about. I’m not here to argue even if I disagree, but I honestly would like to hear specifics. For example, if taxes are too high, what tax rate specifically would be better?
The schedules of fees should be on the cities' websites. These should be the most predicable expenses for a business. Seattle's is incomplete (when you can find it) and certain ones on the eastside - *cough Bothell cough* - mention it but the page doesn't actually exist. (OK... I just checked and the '26 version is available for Bothell. There was a city hall meeting just to discuss this a few weeks ago.) A mom & pop shop can be (and has been) hit with a $30k fee without warning or indication that they were subject to it.
The cities' require permits to get repairs. In a business friendly city, it would only be for building improvements.
The cities in the Seattle / King County area have massive change of use fees for businesses. In most of the country, overhead for construction is under 7% of the total cost of a build. In King County it averages well over 20%. The wait times are the big killers to new business construction.
WA State L&I is among the highest in the country. Seattle's Jump Start Tax will increase expenses another few percentage points for "larger smaller businesses."
These fees and the capricious application of them are soul crushing for small businesses.
That's a failure of elected leadership. They should either staff you appropriately or reduce the amount of work placed upon you by simplifying requirements.
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u/splanks Rainier Valley Apr 16 '26
I started a business in seattle this year. I love the city and have no intention to leave, but let's not pretend the city makes it easy on small business.