In Burien, economic development is a priority. Since the city’s
incorporation in 1993, the community has remained committed to
developing an environment where businesses can flourish. From
transportation improvements, including the Burien Transit Center which
opened in 2009, to the walkable downtown core surrounding Burien Town
Square, to job creation in the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA),
strategic City planning has enabled businesses to start-up quickly, with
room to grow.
City staff are ready to assist you in getting your
business off the ground, or taking your existing business to the next
level. The Counter Assistance Program gives businesses the opportunity
to speak with a
planning or economic development team member Monday–Friday between 9 a.m.–noon to discuss your business
needs. Economic development team members can be reached at [email protected], Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Low tax rate and streamlined processes keeps business costs low
At
0.001, the business & occupation tax rate in Burien is less than
half of that in the City of Seattle. In fact, only two cities in
Washington have lower business tax rates. And if your gross sales are
less than $200,000 annually, in Burien you pay nothing. Compare for
yourself:
|
Business and Occupation Tax Rates
|
|
City
|
Manufacturing
|
Retail
|
Services
|
Exemption Threshold
|
|
Darrington
|
0.00075
|
0.00075
|
0.00075
|
$20,000
|
|
Renton
|
0.00085
|
0.00050
|
0.00085
|
$1,500,000
|
|
Burien
|
0.001
|
0.001
|
0.001
|
$200,000
|
|
Seattle
|
0.00219
|
0.00219
|
0.00423
|
$100,000
|
|
Bellevue
|
0.001496
|
0.001496
|
0.001496
|
$160,000
|
|
Tacoma
|
0.00110
|
0.00153
|
0.004
|
$250,000
|
Burien
understands that locating your business here means you are making an
investment. In return, Burien keeps the cost of doing business low and
unlike other cities, Burien does not interfere in your daily operations
with excessive regulations. For those interested in constructing a new
building, design review is done in-house and without public committees,
saving developers and property owners valuable time in the permitting
process.
“The City of Burien is great to work with. One of the fastest lease ups we’ve experienced.” — Legacy Partners, development company responsible for
the Town Square Condominiums
A City that listens
Soon
after City incorporation, the Burien City Council realized the
importance of involving the business community in policy discussions
regarding economic development. In 1995, the Council created the Burien
Business and Economic Development Partnership (BEDP) to provide guidance
and direction to the City Council on Burien's future economic
development, review and make recommendations for improvement to the
economic development component of the City's Comprehensive Plan, and to
advise the City Council on other economic opportunities and business
interests.
A City that is responsive
“You wouldn’t get
this type of service in a larger city.” This is what we hear often when
making business visits through our robust Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) program. We believe being responsive to the needs of our
business community is the most critical economic development function
we serve. From the more than 250 businesses we visit annually to our
walk-up counter assistance program at City Hall, we make Burien
businesses our priority. If you have questions about locating your
business here, let us know.
A City that values partners
Burien
understands the importance of leveraging regional partnerships to give
our resources more impact. We are actively engaged in growing our
influence in the region, and value the economic development partners
that help our businesses grow and our community amplify its voice. Our
valued partners include:
Incentives
The
City of Burien has a robust history of partnering with the private
sector on new development. A new job center in Burien (NERA) resulted
from the city government partnering with the Port of Seattle, and WSDOT
to provide timely infrastructure investments that support the attraction
of private sector development and over 750,000 square feet of new
commercial space. The City took the lead on developing similar
partnerships for mixed use development in the downtown, providing $9M in
street investments (in 2017 dollars) to support downtown redevelopment.
For further information on incentives available through a public
private partnership, please contact the Economic Development Manager, Chris Craig.
Other incentive information can be found here:
Updated July 23, 2024