The city of Aberdeen may impose a higher business license tax, which is estimated to bring in more money for the general fund.

The new license fee, if approved, would be effective as of January 2025, according to Ruth Clemens, Aberdeen’s city administrator. Also if approved, the renewal would happen according to the original date of their business license.

Stan Sidor, Aberdeen city councilor, spoke about how the current policy has been one way that the city has been “unusually generous” to the local population.

“When you have a business in the city, you are only required to buy a business license once, or to pay the fee for it and that was it,” Sidor said. “It was a lifetime business license. Now we’re proposing to make it an annual renewal, (so) you’d have a annual renewal fee for your business license. Most cities require annual renewals and annual fees to be paid. The city of Aberdeen hasn’t been doing this. It’s time we start, you know, (it’s) little ways like this that the city can raise some revenue to be able to do what we really need to do as priorities and provide good efficiency and valuable police and fire resources, etc …”

The proposal is to increase a new business license going from $25 to $50, and then adding a $50 annual business license renewal fee, the city expects to receive approximately $100,000 for the general fund.

Currently, with a $25 new business license and no annual fee, Aberdeen is way below most other cities in Washington state.

A graph from the city shows Aberdeen’s current 2024 business license prices below a few of its municipal neighbors in Grays Harbor County and several beyond the Harbor. The in-county neighbors include Hoquiam and Ocean Shores, which both have a $50 new license fee and annual fee.

And then outside the county, Aberdeen’s new business license fee is lower than Centralia, Shelton, Ridgefield, Anacortes, Washougal and Port Orchard. Port Angeles has the same $25 new license fee.

Each of the aforementioned cities, except for Ellensburg, Anacortes, Port Orchard and Port Angeles, have a $50 annual renewal fee. Ellensburg doesn’t have one, Anacortes’ annual renewal is $40; Port Orchard’s is $35, and Port Angeles is $25.

Aberdeen Mayor Doug Orr said when he ran his business in California, his fees were in the hundreds of dollars.

“I thought this was such a great deal,” Orr said. “And $50 is still a great deal.”

Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.