San Juan County’s Treasurer’s Office is providing notice to local businesses of an upcoming increase to sales tax in San Juan County. A one-tenth of 1% sales tax will be enacted on April 1 to support a new Cultural Access Program.

Businesses must collect the appropriate new rate of sales tax for retail sales and services provided within San Juan County. Persons or businesses within the County will be subject to the new rate of use tax on items purchased for their personal or business use if sales tax has not been paid.

In advance of this increase, the Treasurer’s Office encourages businesses to update any sales tax automation systems or point-of-sale software to ensure accurate calculations.

Washington state’s Department of Revenue no longer sends notifications regarding changes to taxes, but there are other ways to be proactive and stay up to date:

Sign up for notifications from DOR at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WADOR/signup/17806.

Determine the proper codes and rates of local sales tax via the Tax Rate Lookup Tool: https://webgis.dor.wa.gov/taxratelookup/SalesTax.aspx.

Visit the DOR website to see the change notices, find collection schedules and more: https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/sales-use-tax-rates.

Background

During the Dec. 10 Council meeting, the San Juan County Council passed an ordinance to approve a new one-tenth of 1% sales tax to create a Cultural Access program. During the meeting, the Council held a public hearing, deliberated and passed the proposed ordinance. San Juan County’s Cultural Access program will become the first program of its kind in a rural area of Washington state.

In the coming months, the County will work to develop the program, managed by the Parks and Fair Department, with the intent of processing grants in 2026. The tax will be enacted on April 1 in San Juan County.

To learn more about the program proposal, how funds will be spent and more, visit the County’s website at https://www.sanjuancountywa.gov/2168/Cultural-Access-Program-Proposal.

Questions about sales tax? Contact San Juan County Treasurer Rhonda Pederson at rhondap@sanjuancountywa.gov or 360-370-7463, or visit https://dor.wa.gov/ or call the Department of Revenue at 360-705-6705.

Questions about the Cultural Access Program? Contact Parks and Fair Director Brandon Andrews at brandona@sanjuancountywa.gov or 360-370-7452.