Feasibility Study Consultant in Washington

What sets a Washington feasibility study apart is that the state taxes a business on its gross receipts rather than its profit and limits how fast a landlord may raise residential rent, so a projection here carries a tax that no cost can offset and, for rental housing, a revenue line that cannot climb faster than the law allows [18][55]. The Department of Revenue calls the business and occupation (B&O) tax a gross receipts tax and says a business cannot deduct labor, materials, taxes or other costs from it [18]. The rate follows the activity: 0.275 percent for assisted living facilities, 0.471 percent for retailing and up to 2.1 percent for service activities once prior-year receipts reach $5 million [19]. Above that sit the taxes a customer pays, which follow the address where the customer receives the goods or service and are updated every quarter [16]. In the fourth quarter of 2026 the combined sales rate was 8.6 percent in Yakima and 10.55 percent in Seattle, and a Seattle hotel of any size collected 15.7 percent on each room charge [17][26]. For housing, the rent stabilization law in force since May 7, 2025 holds an increase to the lesser of 10 percent or 7 percent plus CPI in any 12 months, a ceiling the Attorney General's office puts at 9.683 percent for calendar 2026, and to 5 percent for a manufactured home owner renting a park space [55]. A transfer that closes on or after January 1, 2027 pays the state real estate excise tax (REET) in four bands from 1.1 to 3.0 percent of the price [29]. Washington had 8,001,020 residents by the Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025 [1] and 8,176,300 on the April 1, 2026 estimate of the state's Office of Financial Management (OFM), which places more than 62 percent of the latest year's growth in the five largest metropolitan counties [41]. A Washington study therefore names the B&O classification, the delivery address, the room count and the lease year behind every revenue figure, and it reports the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) after the taxes the business itself owes. The page follows that order: what a lender here asks; the demand base and its two official counts; the 26 cities with more than 50,000 people and how USDA's rural definition treats them [7]; the seven metro areas above 250,000 [10]; the agency rules for each asset family; three illustrative models that carry B&O tax, lodging rates and the rent ceiling through to DSCR; and the offices, papers and scope drivers behind a finished study.

What does a Washington lender need a feasibility study to show?

A Washington lender needs to see net operating income that covers debt service after the B&O tax the business owes on its gross receipts, with sales and lodging taxes priced at the customer's address and kept out of revenue, and, for rental housing, with rent growth held inside the ceiling the Attorney General's office publishes [18][16][55]. Rules that hold in every state, from bank regulators to SBA and USDA, are collected in FSC's lender requirements guide, and the traits that get a study accepted are in what makes a study bankable. What follows adds only what Washington changes.

USDA requires an independent qualified consultant's study for a Business and Industry guarantee above $1,000,000 to a new business [12], and SBA may ask for one under SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026 [13].

A Washington study answers seven questions before a reviewer has to ask them, and each answer is a state agency's published rule with its date.

• Which B&O classification each revenue stream falls in. The Department lists more than 50 classifications [18], and the rate moves with the activity and, for service activities, with last year's receipts: 1.5 percent under $1,000,000, 1.75 percent from $1,000,000 to $4,999,999 and 2.1 percent at $5 million or more [19]. Room revenue from short stays falls under retailing [20], while assisted living and child care each carry a rate of their own [19].
• Which address each sale is sourced to. Sales tax is collected where the customer receives the goods or service [16]. The state's share is 6.5 percent everywhere [15], local rates can change every quarter [16], and since October 1, 2025 some business services have been taxable under ESSB 5814 [15], so a service operator confirms whether its own service is one of them before setting prices.
• Which lodging class the unit count puts the property in. The Department's quarterly lodging table sets rates by size class, for example 25 or fewer units and 40 or more units in Tacoma [26], and in Spokane County the special hotel/motel tax applies only at 40 or more units [23].
• Which rent increase each lease year allows. HB 1217 took effect on May 7, 2025; rent may not rise at all in a tenancy's first 12 months, and any increase needs at least 90 days' written notice [55].
• Which REET schedule the closing date falls under. The four-band schedule covers sales from January 1, 2027, the thresholds are reset every four years, and a transfer of 50 percent or more of an entity that owns real property is taxed as well [29].
• Which agency has to approve the operation. The Liquor and Cannabis Board licenses alcohol sales [50]; the Department of Health runs certificate of need and regulates transient accommodations [46][45]; DSHS licenses adult family homes, assisted living facilities and nursing facilities [47]; the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) licenses child care [49]; the Pollution Liability Insurance Agency runs tank financial assurance [53]; and the Department of Natural Resources authorizes use of state-owned aquatic lands [59].
• Which SBA office serves the county. The Seattle District Office covers Washington except Clark, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and Skamania counties, which the Portland District Office serves [14].

A figure that cannot be tied to one of these sources and a date is not ready for a lender. To see what the B&O line does to coverage on a specific deal, a projection can be entered in FSC's DSCR and debt yield calculator, and an SBA file can be run under both current policy editions in the SBA DSCR calculator. Some borrowers have to settle the program first: the lender fit finder sorts SBA, USDA and conventional routes, and the SBA vs conventional comparison shows what changes in the study when the lender does.

How large is Washington's demand base, and what does each figure tell a study?

Washington's demand base is 8,001,020 residents in 3,180,129 households on the Census Bureau's figures [1][3], and a study reads it for three things the state's rules make important: where the growth comes from, how much of it rents, and how much of a household's income rent already takes. Table 1 pairs each Census measure with the question it settles in a Washington file.

Table 1. Census indicators for Washington and what each tells a study

Source: from the Census Bureau, the Vintage 2025 state population totals [1] and age file [9], the 2025 state permit file [5] and ACS 2025 1-year income, tenure and rent tables, state and metro rows [2][3][4]; the landlord-tenant note is the Attorney General's [55]. Change, shares and the rent-to-income ratio are FSC arithmetic.

Two lines in Table 1 carry the page's thesis into demand. Renters hold 37.2 percent of occupied units [3], and residential renters are covered by the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, chapter 59.18 RCW [55], so for more than a third of households the rent path a study projects is one the state regulates. And twelve months of median gross rent equal 22.0 percent of median household income [4][2], which is the check a study runs before it assumes rents can rise faster than incomes, whatever the legal ceiling allows.

Table 2. Components of Washington's population change, years to July 1

Source: Census Bureau state totals, Vintage 2025 [1]; FSC computed the remainder and the five-year totals.

Arrivals from abroad supplied 222,587 of the 274,208 residents Washington added in the five years to July 2025, or 81.2 percent, while net domestic migration summed to -24,858 [1]. The latest year shifted the mix: net international migration fell 35.1 percent, from 71,161 to 46,202, as net domestic migration turned positive for a second year at 9,238 [1]. For a study this means a demand case that leans on population growth leans mostly on international arrivals and on births exceeding deaths, and the sensitivity worth running is the one that cuts international migration, because that is where the state's growth has been most concentrated and where it fell fastest.

The state publishes a second count. OFM estimates 8,176,300 residents on April 1, 2026, up 61,200 in the year and up 469,990, or 6.1 percent, since April 1, 2020 [41]. Its implied April 2025 figure, 8,115,100, sits 114,080 above the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate even though the Census date is three months later [41][1]. Neither count is wrong; they come from different methods, and the gap is large enough that a study picks one, says so, and tests its conclusion against the other count.

Table 3. OFM's statewide figures and what a study does with each

Source: OFM April 1, 2026 estimates release [41]; OFM 2022 Growth Management Act projections, middle series [43][44]. FSC computed the projected change.

OFM's projections were made in 2022 and run from 2020 to 2050 in low, middle and high series [44]. A study that borrows a projected year checks first whether the county is running ahead of or behind the projection's path, which the county table in the metro section does for each metro county.

Supply moved with demand. The Census Bureau counted 34,913 housing units authorized in 2025, 15,001 of them in buildings of five or more units [5], and OFM counted 41,000 units added in its latest year, 62 percent multifamily, with more than 69 percent of them in Clark, King, Pierce, Snohomish and Spokane counties [41]. The new apartments enter a market in which an increase is limited to the lesser of 10 percent or 7 percent plus CPI over 12 months once a tenancy is past its first 12 months [55].

Competition is read from County Business Patterns. Table 4 lists the Washington establishment counts for the industries this page covers, with the asset section that uses each.

Table 4. Washington establishments in selected industries, 2023

Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023, state file [8].

An establishment count measures how many competitors there are, not how large they are: 1,211 hotels and motels says nothing about room supply [8]. The count tells a study where to look; the local inventory and the operator's own records tell it how much capacity the market holds. Residents aged 65 and older made up 18.3 percent of the state on July 1, 2025 [9], and the 1,824 assisted living establishments [8] report under a B&O classification taxed at 0.275 percent, well below the service rates [19].

Which Washington cities pass 50,000 residents, and what does the USDA rural test do with them?

Twenty-six Washington cities had more than 50,000 residents on July 1, 2025 [7], and USDA's rural test counts them by the decennial census instead [11]. Table 5 lists them with their change since the April 2020 estimates base.

Table 5. Washington cities above 50,000 residents

Source: Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates [7]; FSC computed the change.

Nineteen of the 26 grew and seven lost residents [7]. The nineteen added 136,596 people between them, and Seattle alone supplied 47,674 of that, or 34.9 percent [7]. In percentage terms the leaders were smaller cities: Shoreline grew 13.8 percent, Redmond 12.6 percent and Marysville 9.9 percent, while Auburn fell 2.4 percent, Sammamish 2.0 percent and Renton 1.8 percent [7]. Richland, Pasco and Kennewick, the three listed cities in Benton and Franklin counties [42], all grew faster than the state's 3.8 percent, by 7.7, 7.1 and 5.3 percent [7][1].

A city's growth is half of what a Washington study needs from it; the other half is its tax rate, because each city's local sales rate is added to the state's 6.5 percent at the customer's address [15][16]. Kennewick and Richland both charged 8.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2026 and Seattle 10.55 percent [17], so a customer in Seattle pays 1.75 points more on the same taxable purchase, a difference the operator does not keep but the customer sees. OFM counts the largest city differently from the Census Bureau as well: Seattle had 823,400 residents on April 1, 2026, 6,800 more than a year earlier [41], and OFM's implied April 2025 figure of 816,600 is 31,823 above the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate [41][7].

Under 7 CFR 5001.3, a rural area excludes a city or town of more than 50,000 inhabitants, by the latest decennial census, and the urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to it [11]; Bothell, with an April 2020 estimates base of 48,154 [7], shows why the 2025 estimates settle nothing alone. The Rural Development Property Eligibility Map marks such adjacent locations non-eligible, applicants request determinations from the Rural Development State Office, and no application is approved subject to meeting the test later [11]. This page makes no eligibility finding for any site.

How do Washington's seven large metro areas differ for a study?

They differ most in where their growth comes from and in what a customer pays in tax at the register: the seven metro areas above 250,000 residents that include a Washington county held 6,485,837 Washington residents on July 1, 2025, 81.1 percent of the state [10][1], and their principal cities' combined sales rates in the fourth quarter of 2026 ran from 8.6 percent in Yakima to 10.55 percent in Seattle [17]. Six of the seven lie wholly in Washington; for Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro only Clark and Skamania counties do [10].

Table 6. The seven metro areas above 250,000 that reach into Washington

Source: population, change and migration from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 CBSA file [10]; income, tenure and rent from the ACS 2025 1-year metro rows [2][3][4]. Growth since 2020, renter shares and the Washington county count are FSC arithmetic.

Kennewick-Richland grew fastest after 2020, by 6.8 percent, and Yakima slowest, by 1.0 percent [10]. Two metros lost residents to other states and counties in the year to July 2025, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue by 8,422 and Yakima by 1,550, and both still grew because more people arrived from abroad [10]. In Spokane-Spokane Valley, Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, domestic migration supplied most of the year's growth instead; in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 1,575 of the 2,129 added residents came that way [10]. Median household income runs from $66,593 in Yakima to $120,018 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, and a year of median gross rent takes from 19.1 percent of median income in Kennewick-Richland to 23.2 percent in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard [2][4]. Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard pairs the lowest renter share, 28.0 percent, with the highest rent burden, which is the combination in which a projected increase at the legal ceiling most needs testing against what renters earn [3][55].

Table 7. Metro counties on the two official counts and against OFM's 2022 projection

Source: Census Bureau Vintage 2025 metro file, county rows [10]; OFM April 1 estimates, Table 1 [41]; OFM 2022 Growth Management Act projections, middle series [43]. FSC computed the differences and the projected change.

The two official series disagree by county in a way a study cannot average away. OFM's April 2025 figure is above the Census Bureau's July 2025 figure in nine of the ten counties, by 66,761 in King County, while in Benton County the Census figure is the higher one, by 2,097 [41][10]. Against OFM's own 2022 projection, the 2025 estimate ran ahead in King, Spokane, Kitsap and Yakima counties and behind in the other six, by as much as 7,658 in Pierce County [41][43]. A study that uses a projected year therefore reports where the county stands against the projection's path today, and a county running behind it, such as Thurston at 4,885 short, is not assumed to catch up [43].

Housing supply tells a study whether the rent ceiling or the market will set the pace of rent growth. Table 8 compares the residents OFM added in each metro county with the net housing units it added in the same year.

Table 8. Residents added per net housing unit added, OFM estimates

Source: OFM April 1, 2026 estimates, Table 1 [41]; OFM postcensal estimates of housing units [42]. FSC computed the ratios. Franklin County's housing total is not among the figures used here.

In King County the year's net housing additions exceeded the residents added, 14,160 units against 13,000 people, a ratio of 0.92 after 1.47 over the six years from 2020 [41][42]. In Thurston County the year added 2.83 residents for every unit [41][42]. The two counties pose opposite questions for a multifamily study. In Thurston the study tests whether the ceiling of 9.683 percent for 2026 [55] binds before demand runs out; in King it tests whether new supply holds rents well below the ceiling, so that the legal limit never comes into play.

Table 9. Sales and lodging rates in the metros' principal cities, fourth quarter of 2026

Source: DOR local sales and use tax rate table for October 1 to December 31, 2026 [17] and DOR lodging rates and changes for the same quarter, whose total lodging rate includes the 6.5 percent state rate, the local rate and the Regional Transit Authority rate, with the tourism promotion area charge shown separately per night [26]. Lodging rows for Bellevue and Richland were not among the rows used here. FSC computed the last column.

The last column is what a lodging operator collects at that address on top of what a shop next door collects, for the size class shown [17][26]. It is widest in Seattle at 5.15 points [17][26], and every King County lodging business also collects the convention and trade center tax regardless of room count [24]. The per-night charges work differently from a percentage: $5 in Spokane is a fixed amount on every occupied night, so it weighs more on a low room rate than on a high one [26]. None of these taxes belongs in revenue. The B&O tax, by contrast, is the operator's own expense on its gross income from lodging [20][18].

Table 10. Taxable retail sales in the metro counties, all industries

Source: DOR taxable retail sales for all industries, county table, calendar 2025 [38]; FSC computed the billions, the change and the retailing share. DOR publishes the same series for cities and counties by quarter and by calendar year [40].

Taxable retail sales cover all industries, and the retailing industry is one part of the total [38]. That share, from 34.2 percent in King County to 48.0 percent in Yakima County [38], is the better guide for a store, restaurant or fuel study. The county change is the first test of a sales projection: Benton County's 9.7 percent rise and Franklin County's 4.7 percent fall [38] sit inside the same metro.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue holds 4,161,883 residents in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, 52.0 percent of Washington [10][1], and it is where the state's visitor taxes and its gross receipts tax reach the largest sales base. The metro grew 3.6 percent from its 2020 base and by 43,068 in the year to July 2025 [10]. That year it lost 8,422 residents to domestic migration and gained 37,353 from abroad, and births less deaths and the Census residual made up the other 14,137 [10]. King County alone holds 56.3 percent of the metro [10] and stood 3.3 percent above its 2020 base, against 2.7 percent for Pierce and 5.2 percent for Snohomish [6]. Median household income is $120,018, 42.2 percent of households rent, and median gross rent is $2,121 a month, 21.2 percent of median income over a year [2][3][4].

The state's own count runs higher. OFM put King County at 2,424,700 on April 1, 2026, up 13,000 in the year, and Seattle at 823,400, up 6,800 [41]. King County added 14,160 net housing units, 35 percent of the state's housing growth, and Seattle 7,781, a 1.83 percent rise to 433,871 [41][42]; Seattle's December 2025 issued permits alone added 1,165 units and removed 62 [70], one month of the monthly summaries the city posts [71]. Tacoma added 1,223 units to reach 99,900 [42]. OFM's 2022 projections have King County growing 21.1 percent from 2025 to 2050, Pierce 22.6 percent and Snohomish 29.2 percent [43].

Port of Seattle records give the metro's visitor and freight evidence, summarized in Table 11.

Table 11. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, cruise and container figures, 2025 against 2024

Source: Port of Seattle 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Schedules 16, 18, 19 and 22 [66]; the container line is the Northwest Seaport Alliance joint venture's total as the schedule's footnote states. FSC computed the changes.

The Port of Seattle describes 2025 as a record year at SEA, with more than 52.7 million passengers [65], but the total rose only 0.14 percent: international traffic grew 7.8 percent to 13.5 percent of passengers while domestic traffic fell 1.0 percent [66]. Cruise passengers rose 8.3 percent on 23 more calls [66]. Freight moved the other way: air cargo fell 7.0 percent and container volume 5.5 percent [66], the Northwest Seaport Alliance reported breakbulk volume down 17 percent, and its line-of-business revenue of $272.1 million was less than 1 percent above 2024 [67]. The Port's own statement that SEA produces $33 billion in economic activity [65] is the Port's figure, not an audited one, and a study quotes it that way.

Property tax evidence comes from the same reports. The Port district, which is King County, carried $873.4 billion of assessed value in 2025, 4.8 percent more than 2024, and its schedule of direct and overlapping rates averaged $8.84 per $1,000, down from $9.13, with the state at $2.25, the county at $1.35, cities at $1.63 and schools at $2.43 [66]. Those are county-wide averages; a parcel's rate depends on its levy districts. The ten largest King County taxpayers held 2.5 percent of taxable value [66], and the Port collected $87.8 million through its levy in 2025 [66]. In Pierce County, Tacoma's report gives a 2025 rate of $10.862023 per $1,000 [68]. Tacoma itself says it levied at the statutory limitation of $2.19 per $1,000 during 2025, while its statistical table shows a total direct rate of 2.08 on the 2025 row and 2.19 on the 2024 row, against a legal maximum of $3.60 [68]; a study quotes both figures as the city does. Tacoma's assessed value reached $44.73 billion, up 2.51 percent [68]. DOR's ratio study put King County real property at 93.6 and Pierce at 91.4 for 2026 taxes [34].

Rates and sales complete the picture. Seattle's combined sales rate is 10.55 percent, Tacoma's 10.50, Bellevue's 10.30 and Everett's 9.90 [17]. Seattle reported $35.00 billion of taxable retail sales in 2025, 2.1 percent more than 2024 and 38.7 percent of King County's total, while Bellevue reported $10.28 billion, up 1.5 percent, Tacoma $7.46 billion, up 3.6 percent, and Everett $4.17 billion, down 0.9 percent [39][38]. The University of Washington serves more than 60,000 students a year across its Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses, with more than 33,000 undergraduates in Seattle [63].

Implications by asset type:

• Hotels. A Seattle property of any size collects 15.7 percent on the room charge, the same rate for 59 or fewer units, 60 or more and short-term rentals, and a King County property of any size collects the convention and trade center tax [26][24]; a Tacoma property's rate turns on whether it has 25 or fewer units, 26 to 39, or 40 or more [26], alongside Pierce County's special hotel/motel tax of 2 percent for 25 or fewer units and 5 percent for 26 or more [23]. Demand growth in 2025 came from international and cruise passengers, not total airport traffic [66].
• Apartments. King County added more units than residents in the year [41][42], so a King County projection tests concessions and lease-up against new supply before it tests the rent ceiling. Tacoma's Multifamily Housing Property Tax Exemption offers 8-, 12- or 20-year exemptions for new multifamily projects depending on affordability [68], and a study counts the exemption only for the years and the affordability level the project commits to.
• Industrial, logistics and cold storage. A warehouse study near the harbors starts from a year in which containers fell 5.5 percent, air freight 7.0 percent and breakbulk 17 percent [66][67]. Manufacturing and wholesaling report B&O at 0.484 percent of gross receipts [19].
• Data centers. King, Pierce and Snohomish are the three counties named for the urban data center exemption, which needs at least 100,000 square feet and a building permit issued after June 9, 2022 [36].
• Restaurants and retail. King County's food and beverage tax on restaurants expired on October 1, 2011 [28], so a Seattle restaurant prices the 10.55 percent combined sales rate [17] and reports retailing B&O on its gross sales [19].
• Student housing. The University of Washington's enrollment [63] supports demand near its three campuses; rentals of 30 days or more are nontransient [20], and nontransient rental income is exempt from B&O tax [21].

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro (Clark and Skamania counties)

Only the Washington side of this metro is in scope here, and it is the smaller side: Clark County's 532,119 residents and Skamania County's 12,669 made 544,788 people on July 1, 2025, 21.4 percent of a metro of 2,542,282, so 78.6 percent of the metro lives in Oregon under Oregon's rules [10]. Clark County holds 97.7 percent of the Washington part [10]. The metro-wide figures, growth of 1.2 percent since 2020, net domestic migration of just +60 in the latest year, median household income of $99,767, a renter share of 38.9 percent and median gross rent of $1,799 [10][2][3][4], are mostly Oregon figures, and a study of a Clark County site leans on the county data instead.

Those county data show the fastest growth since 2020 of any county in Table 7 except Franklin [41]. OFM puts Clark County at 550,000 on April 1, 2026, up 7,600 or 1.40 percent in the year and 9.28 percent since 2020 [41], and its 2022 projection has the county growing 35.4 percent from 2025 to 2050 [43]. Housing grew 1.74 percent, 3,773 units to 220,082, while Vancouver added 875 units to reach 91,655 [42], about 2.01 residents per new unit countywide [41][42]. Taxable retail sales rose 1.8 percent in the county to $12.40 billion but fell 1.5 percent in Vancouver to $6.44 billion [38][39], so a Vancouver retail study cannot borrow the county's trend. WSU Vancouver enrolls about 2,700 students [64].

Vancouver's 2025 financial report adds three local facts a projection uses. The city may levy up to $3.331 per $1,000 of assessed value for general government and levied about $2.11 in 2025, and a fire levy lid lift passed in 2024 added $0.50 per $1,000 to taxes collected in 2025 [69]. Half of the lodging taxes collected in the city are dedicated to bonds for the downtown conference center and hotel project, and the city recognized $1,767,638 of 2025 expenditures tied to that dedication [69]. Vancouver's combined sales rate is 8.9 percent and its lodging total is 10.9 percent for 40 or more units, plus a $2 nightly tourism promotion area charge [17][26].

Implications by asset type:

• Hotels. A Vancouver hotel study treats the lodging tax as a guest charge whose proceeds are committed in part to bonds for the downtown conference center and hotel project [69], and it states the 10.9 percent rate and the $2 nightly charge for its size class [26].
• Apartments. Clark County's strong population gain against its unit additions [41][42] supports lease-up, and the state's rent ceiling governs each renewal once the first 12 months of a tenancy have passed [55].
• Retail and restaurants. The Washington trade area is the one whose taxable sales the state reports [39]; the rest of the metro's shoppers are outside these Washington figures.
• SBA files. Clark and Skamania counties are served by SBA's Portland District Office, not the Seattle District Office [14].

Spokane-Spokane Valley

Spokane-Spokane Valley holds 608,012 residents, 91.8 percent of them in Spokane County and the rest in Stevens County [10]. It grew 3.8 percent from its 2020 base and by 3,349 in the year to July 2025, with 1,908 from domestic migration, 941 from abroad and 500 from the remainder [10]. Median household income is $80,969, 34.5 percent of households rent, and median gross rent is $1,423, 21.1 percent of median income over a year [2][3][4].

OFM puts Spokane County at 570,600 on April 1, 2026, up 4,600 in the year [41], 2,952 ahead of the 2022 projection's path for 2025 [41][43], and the projection adds 18.9 percent by 2050 [43]. The county added 3,209 housing units, 1.34 percent; the city of Spokane added 989 and Spokane Valley 361 [42]. The two cities are diverging. Spokane Valley grew 5.2 percent in residents since 2020 and 5.0 percent in taxable retail sales in 2025, to $3.81 billion, while the city of Spokane grew 0.8 percent in residents and 0.1 percent in taxable sales, to $7.21 billion [7][39]. County taxable sales rose 2.2 percent to $15.55 billion [38]. DOR's ratio study put Spokane County real property at 95.0 and personal property at 96.8 [34].

Lodging is where Spokane's rules are most specific. The special hotel/motel tax applies in Spokane County only to properties of 40 or more units [23]. The city of Spokane's lodging class in DOR's table is 40 or more units with income above $500,000 a year, taxed at 12.1 percent plus a $5 tourism promotion area charge per night, the highest nightly charge in Table 9; Spokane Valley charges 12.0 percent plus $4 for 40 or more units [26]. The combined sales rates are 9.1 percent in Spokane and 9.0 percent in Spokane Valley [17].

Implications by asset type:

• Hotels. Unit count and annual income decide which class a property joins [23][26], so a study states both, and a property near a threshold shows the guest price on each side of it.
• Retail and fuel. A site in Spokane Valley sits in the faster-growing half of the metro by both population and taxable sales [7][39].
• Apartments. Median gross rent is $1,423 against $2,121 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue [4], and Spokane County's 1.43 residents per new unit [41][42] leaves less pressure on the ceiling than in Thurston or Benton.
• SBA files. SBA's Spokane office serves twelve eastern Washington counties, including Spokane and Stevens [14].

Kennewick-Richland

Kennewick-Richland is the fastest-growing large metro in the state, up 6.8 percent from its 2020 base to 324,334 residents, with 68.4 percent of them in Benton County and the rest in Franklin County [10]. In the year to July 2025 it added 4,017 people: 1,338 by domestic migration, 1,063 from abroad and 1,616 from the remainder [10]. Median household income is $93,363, 31.3 percent of households rent, and median gross rent of $1,485 takes 19.1 percent of median income, the lowest share of the seven metros [2][3][4].

OFM names Franklin County, at 2.6 percent, and Benton County, at 1.6 percent, among the three fastest-growing counties of the year [41]. Benton reached 223,200 and Franklin 105,900 [41], and the 2022 projections give Franklin the largest rise of any metro county, 42.6 percent from 2025 to 2050, and Benton 30.8 percent [43]. Both counties nonetheless sat behind the projection's path in 2025, Benton by 1,264 and Franklin by 2,587 [41][43]. Benton County is also the one metro county where the Census Bureau's figure is above OFM's [41][10]. Pasco added 1,004 housing units, a 3.76 percent rise and the fastest of the cities in this section; Richland grew 2.16 percent and Kennewick 1.78 percent [42]. Benton County added 2.26 residents per new unit [41][42].

Retail sales split along the county line. Benton County's taxable retail sales rose 9.7 percent to $6.63 billion while Franklin County's fell 4.7 percent to $2.82 billion [38], and the two together rose 5.0 percent [38]. Kennewick reported $3.13 billion, up 6.8 percent, and Richland $2.17 billion, up 7.7 percent [39]. Kennewick and Richland both charge 8.8 percent combined sales tax, and a Kennewick property of 40 or more units collects 10.8 percent on lodging plus a $3 nightly tourism promotion area charge [17][26]. WSU's Tri-Cities campus in Richland enrolls about 1,600 students [64].

Implications by asset type:

• Retail, restaurants and fuel. A trade area that spans both counties reports both, because the combined 5.0 percent rise differs from either county's own result [38].
• Apartments and manufactured housing. Residents are arriving faster than units in Benton County and Pasco's unit count rose fastest [41][42], so a study tests where the rent ceiling of 9.683 percent for 2026 binds, and for a community that rents spaces, where the 5 percent ceiling does [55].
• Hotels. The 10.8 percent lodging total and $3 nightly charge apply to 40 or more units in Kennewick [26].
• SBA files. SBA's Spokane office list names Franklin County but not Benton County, which falls under the Seattle District Office's statewide coverage [14].

Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater

Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, which is Thurston County, held 304,261 residents on July 1, 2025, 3.2 percent above its 2020 base [10]. Of the 2,129 residents it added in the latest year, 1,575 came by domestic migration and 465 from abroad [10]. Median household income is $102,391, only 29.3 percent of households rent, and median gross rent is $1,900, 22.3 percent of median income over a year [2][3][4].

OFM puts Thurston County at 312,400 on April 1, 2026, up 3,300 [41], but 4,885 behind the 2022 projection's path for 2025 [41][43]; the projection adds 29.7 percent by 2050 [43]. Housing grew just 0.90 percent, 1,165 units, a rate only Yakima County's 0.87 percent undercuts among these metro counties, while Olympia added 353 units [42]. That leaves 2.83 new residents per new unit, the tightest ratio in Table 8 [41][42]. Lacey grew 4.4 percent and Olympia 2.4 percent in residents since 2020 [7]. County taxable retail sales rose 3.1 percent to $8.26 billion and Olympia's 2.4 percent to $3.11 billion [38][39]. Olympia's combined sales rate is 10.0 percent and its lodging total 12.0 percent for 40 or more units plus $2 a night [17][26].

Implications by asset type:

• Apartments. Thurston is the county where the rent ceiling is most likely to be the binding limit on a projection, because residents are arriving far faster than units [41][42][55]. A study shows each lease year's increase against the ceiling and the 90-day notice [55].
• Retail. At 10.0 percent, Olympia's combined rate is the highest in Table 9 outside King and Pierce counties [17], which a store study weighs against cities with lower rates.
• Hotels. The 12.0 percent total plus $2 a night applies at 40 or more units [26].

Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard

Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, which is Kitsap County, held 283,374 residents on July 1, 2025, 2.8 percent above its 2020 base, adding 2,646 in the latest year, 1,801 of them by domestic migration [10]. It has the lowest renter share of the seven metros, 28.0 percent, and the second-highest median gross rent, $1,967, which takes 23.2 percent of a median income of $101,768, the highest share of the seven [2][3][4].

OFM puts Kitsap County at 291,800 on April 1, 2026, up 2,900 [41], and 2,659 ahead of the 2022 projection's path for 2025 [41][43], with 17.1 percent more growth projected by 2050 [43]. Housing grew 1.18 percent, 1,424 units, and Bremerton added 288 units, a 1.45 percent rise [42]. Bremerton's taxable retail sales rose 10.8 percent to $1.57 billion, the fastest of the cities in this section, while the county's rose 3.8 percent to $7.31 billion [39][38]. Bremerton's combined sales rate is 9.2 percent, and its lodging rate is a single 11.2 percent for all properties with no nightly charge listed [17][26].

Implications by asset type:

• Apartments. High rent relative to income in a mostly owner-occupied market [4][3] argues for testing renewal increases well below the 9.683 percent ceiling for 2026 [55], since the limit may not be what holds rents back.
• Hotels. One rate for every property size [26] removes the unit-count threshold question that Tacoma or Spokane studies have to answer.
• Marinas and waterfront. Any project on or over state-owned aquatic lands needs a DNR authorization, a contract separate from the regulatory permits [59].

Yakima

Yakima, which is Yakima County, held 259,185 residents on July 1, 2025, only 1.0 percent above its 2020 base and 214 more than a year earlier [10]. It lost 1,550 residents to domestic migration and gained 841 from abroad, and the remainder of 923 kept the total positive [10]. Median household income is $66,593, the lowest of the seven metros; 38.7 percent of households rent, and median gross rent is $1,140, 20.5 percent of median income over a year [2][3][4].

OFM puts Yakima County at 265,775 on April 1, 2026, up 1,125 [41], and 1,088 ahead of the 2022 projection's path for 2025 [41][43], but that projection gives the county the smallest rise of any metro county, 11.3 percent from 2025 to 2050 [43]. Housing grew 0.87 percent, 820 units, and the city of Yakima added 342 [42]. County taxable retail sales rose 1.9 percent to $5.65 billion, while the city's fell 1.4 percent to $2.58 billion [38][39]. The city of Yakima grew 0.5 percent in residents since 2020 [7]. Its combined sales rate of 8.6 percent is the lowest in Table 9, and its lodging total of 11.6 percent for 40 or more units sits 3.00 points above it, plus a $4 nightly charge [17][26].

Implications by asset type:

• Retail and fuel. A city site cannot borrow the county's sales trend, because the city's taxable sales fell while the county's rose [38][39].
• Hotels. The $4 nightly charge is a fixed amount, so the lower the room rate a study projects, the larger the share of the guest's price it becomes [26].
• Apartments. Slow growth and low rents point a study at occupancy and collections before the rent ceiling [10][4].

Which Washington rules change each asset type's projection?

Each asset family meets its own combination of B&O classification, local tax and licensing agency, and those three decide most of what is particular to a Washington projection. The B&O classification comes first, because it is the one tax every operating business pays on its gross income whatever its margin [18]. Table 12 sets the Department of Revenue's rates for the classifications this page uses beside the tax they produce on $1,000,000 of gross receipts [19].

Table 12. B&O classifications and the tax on $1,000,000 of gross receipts

Source: DOR B&O tax classifications page [19]; DOR's B&O overview for the gross receipts base and the count of classifications [18]; DOR's transient lodging guide for the retailing treatment of short stays [20]. FSC converted the rates and computed the tax.

The service bands are the ones that change as a business grows: a service operator whose prior-year receipts cross $1,000,000 moves from 1.5 to 1.75 percent, and at $5 million to 2.1 percent [19], so a multi-year projection steps the rate up in the year after the threshold is crossed. Because the tax base is gross income with no deduction for labor, materials or other costs [18], the B&O line in a projection is a percentage of revenue, never of profit.

Lodging: room count and length of stay set the tax

A Washington lodging study has to know two facts about every night it projects: how long the guest stays and how many units the property has. A stay of less than one month or less than 30 days in a row is transient; the business reports it under retailing B&O and collects sales tax on it [20]. A stay of 30 days or more is nontransient [20]: its income is exempt from B&O tax and the business does not charge tax on it [21]. Table 13 lists the rules a projection applies.

Table 13. Washington lodging rules and the projection line each changes

Source: DOR lodging guides [20][21][22]; DOR special hotel/motel, convention and trade center, and transient rental income tax pages [23][24][25]; DOR's quarterly lodging rates [26][27]; Department of Health transient accommodations page [45]; Liquor and Cannabis Board retail license page [50].

Several of these rules turn on the room count. In Spokane County the special hotel/motel tax starts at 40 units [23]; in Pierce County it is 2 percent at 25 or fewer units and 5 percent at 26 or more [23]; and in DOR's quarterly table Tacoma's total rate is 12.5 percent at 25 or fewer units and 13.6 percent at 26 or more, with a $1.50 nightly tourism promotion area charge from 40 units, while Everett's 11.9 percent applies at every size and only its $2 nightly charge starts at 50 units [26]. Seattle's 15.7 percent is the same for every size class [26]. A project designed near one of those lines changes the price its guests pay by changing its size, and a study shows the price on both sides of the line. The proceeds of the special hotel/motel tax may fund tourism promotion or tourism-related facilities [23], and Vancouver commits half of the lodging taxes collected in the city to bonds for its downtown conference center and hotel project [69].

Two rules decide what counts as room revenue. Pet, cleaning, smoking and similar fees tied to the room are taxed the same way as the room [22], so a projection carries them inside the taxable room charge, and the transient rental income tax is deducted from the state retail sales tax rather than added to the guest's bill [25]. The Department of Health regulates any facility offering three or more units for stays under thirty days [45], a threshold low enough to reach a small inn or a cluster of short-term rental cottages. A hotel bar needs at least 20 rooms for the hotel liquor license [50]. The 1,211 hotels and motels counted in 2023 [8] compete under these rules, and SEA's 7.8 percent growth in international passengers and the 8.3 percent rise in cruise passengers [66] are the clearest recent demand signals in the state's largest market.

Food and beverage: the dining room's share sets the license fee

A Washington restaurant pays retailing B&O on its gross sales [19], collects sales tax at its own address [16], and in King County no longer collects the food and beverage tax that expired on October 1, 2011 [28]. Alcohol is where the state's rules reach the floor plan. Table 14 lists the Liquor and Cannabis Board fees and conditions a projection uses.

Table 14. Liquor and Cannabis Board licenses that shape a food and beverage projection

Source: Liquor and Cannabis Board retail license fees [50], non-retail license fees [52] and license types page [51].

The fee difference between a bar-forward restaurant and a dining-forward one is $500 [50], small in a pro forma, but the line it sits on is a design decision: whether dedicated dining area is above or below half the space [50]. The larger effects are operating rules. A microbrewery may pour other brewers' beer only up to 25 percent of its own on-tap offering [52], so a taproom's guest-tap revenue has a ceiling; a craft distillery sells to consumers only when they are physically present on the licensed premises [52]; and breweries, wineries and distilleries may jointly operate conjoined consumption areas [52], which lets a shared tasting room carry more than one license's sales. The state counted 17,386 food service and drinking places in 2023 [8].

Fuel and auto: tank financial assurance and the store's size

A Washington fuel study starts with the tanks. Federal and state rules require a petroleum underground storage tank owner or operator to show access to $1 million in case of a release, and without that financial responsibility the owner cannot receive fuel or operate [53]. The Legislature set up the state Financial Assurance Program in 2023 in chapter 70A.545 RCW, with rules in chapter 374-10 WAC, and it has taken online applications since October 1, 2024 [53]. A leak that starts while a tank is enrolled is eligible for up to $2 million for cleanup and infrastructure; a leak that began before enrollment is covered up to $1 million for cleanup and is subject to cost recovery; and the program has no deductibles [53]. The tank must be registered with the Department of Ecology, or a federal or tribal equivalent, and be in compliance [53]. The earlier commercial reinsurance program, created in 1989, has been replaced by the state-led program [54].

For a projection this replaces an assumed environmental reserve with a documented enrollment: the study confirms the tanks are registered and enrolled, and it states whether any known release began before enrollment, since that coverage is smaller and comes with cost recovery [53]. The store matters too. A convenience store under 10,000 square feet of fully enclosed retail space does not meet the floor for the grocery store spirits license [50], so its alcohol revenue is limited to the licenses it does qualify for. Fuel and store receipts together form the gross income on which retailing B&O is charged [18][19], which Illustrative model C below shows is the line that moves a fuel station's DSCR most. Washington had 1,617 gasoline stations with convenience stores and 428 car washes in 2023 [8].

Housing: the rent ceiling and the notice calendar

The Attorney General's office states the rules a Washington rental projection must follow, and they limit both the size and the timing of increases. Table 15 sets them out with the incentives that reach housing.

Table 15. Washington rental housing rules and incentives

Source: Attorney General landlord-tenant page [55] and manufactured housing dispute resolution page [56]; DOR manufactured/mobile home park registration [37]; DOR deferral and incentive program pages [35][36]; City of Tacoma 2025 ACFR [68].

The ceiling turns a sponsor's rent plan into a schedule. An increase is limited to the lesser of 10 percent or 7 percent plus CPI in any 12 months, which the Attorney General's office gives as 9.683 percent for 2026 [55]; rent cannot rise during a tenancy's first 12 months, and each increase needs 90 days' written notice [55]. A value-add plan that marks rents to market at renewal therefore has to show, unit by unit, when each tenancy passes its twelfth month and how far the ceiling lets that unit move, which Illustrative model B below does for a Tacoma building. The law took effect on May 7, 2025 [55]. Residential renters are covered by chapter 59.18 RCW, while owners who own a manufactured home and rent the space are covered by chapter 59.20 RCW, with a dispute resolution program run by the Attorney General [55][56]. Their space rent can rise by at most 5 percent a year [55], and a park with 2 or more year-round spaces registers with DOR and pays $15 a year for each qualifying home whose owner does not own the space [37].

Incentives work on the other side of the ledger. DOR's deferral programs let qualifying projects postpone sales and use tax, and some must repay it [35]; one covers converting underutilized commercial property into multifamily housing of four or more units not used as transient accommodations, and in a mixed-use building under it only the ground floor may be commercial [35][36]. Tacoma's exemption runs 8, 12 or 20 years depending on affordability [68], and a study shows the property tax line stepping back up when the exemption ends. New supply is real: 62 percent of the units OFM counted as built in its latest year were multifamily [41], and the Census Bureau counted 15,001 units authorized in buildings of five or more in 2025 [5].

Care: certificate of need, residential care licensing and child care

Care projects meet the most approval steps of any family, and two of them have their own B&O classifications [19]. Table 16 lists the approvals and rules a care study dates.

Table 16. Washington approvals and rules for care facilities

Source: Department of Health certificate of need page [46]; DSHS residential care pages [47][48]; DCYF licensed child care guidance [49]; DOR B&O classifications [19].

Certificate of need is the gate that decides whether a nursing home, hospice care center or added nursing home beds can be built at all [46], so a study for one of those facilities is not complete until the review outcome or its schedule is in the file. Assisted living facilities and adult family homes are licensed by DSHS Residential Care Services rather than reviewed under certificate of need [47][46], and DSHS rules effective January 1, 2026 require residency agreements for Medicaid residents of adult family homes, assisted living facilities and enhanced services facilities [48], which a study with a Medicaid payer mix counts in its admissions process. The assisted living B&O rate of 0.275 percent [19] is the lowest on Table 12: on $5,000,000 of resident revenue it comes to $13,750, against $105,000 if the same receipts were taxed at the top service rate of 2.1 percent [19], so a projection that uses the wrong classification misstates the expense by $91,250 [19]. Residents aged 65 and older were 18.3 percent of the state in 2025 [9], and Washington counted 1,824 assisted living facilities for the elderly in 2023 [8].

Child care runs under DCYF. Most providers who care for children from birth to 13 outside the child's own home must be licensed, under chapter 110-300 WAC, with chapter 110-301 WAC for school-age programs [49]. Child care reports B&O at 0.484 percent [19]. A child care study builds its capacity and staffing plan from the license standards that apply to the program type and states which chapter governs it.

Education: a fixed-term charter and two university systems

Washington's charter public schools are authorized mainly by the Charter School Commission, an independent state agency formed after voters passed Initiative 1240 in 2012, and applications go to an 11-person Commission for review [57]. A charter contract is a fixed-term, renewable contract between a qualified nonprofit and the Commission [58]. For a lender, the term is the point: a charter school facility loan that runs longer than the contract depends on a renewal the study cannot assume, so the study sets the loan term against the contract term and describes the renewal process.

Higher education supplies demand for housing, retail and lodging around campuses. The University of Washington serves more than 60,000 students a year across Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma [63], and Washington State University reports systemwide enrollment of 25,477, with about 2,700 students at WSU Vancouver and about 1,600 at WSU Tri-Cities in Richland [64]. School-age child care programs, often run near schools, are licensed under chapter 110-301 WAC [49].

Recreation: state-owned aquatic lands and campground stays

Waterfront and campground projects meet two state rules that inland commercial projects do not. A project on or over state-owned aquatic lands needs an authorization from the Department of Natural Resources, which is a contract separate from the regulatory permits other agencies issue, and the permits and the DNR use authorization can be sought together through the Joint Aquatic Resources Permit Application and its Attachment E [59]. Washington also has 27 harbor areas under Article XV of the state constitution, reserved for navigation and commerce [60]. A marina or waterfront venue study therefore carries the DNR authorization as its own line, with its own term, beside the permits.

Campgrounds and RV parks are lodging for tax purposes when stays are short: the special hotel/motel tax applies to stays of less than 30 consecutive days at private campgrounds and RV parks as well as hotels [23], and stays of 30 days or more fall under the nontransient rules [20][21]. An RV park study therefore splits its nights by length of stay before it prices them. Washington counted 186 RV parks and campgrounds in 2023 [8]. Cruise traffic through Seattle, 1,898,049 passengers on 298 calls in 2025, up 8.3 percent [66], is the recreation demand figure in this page's sources.

Industrial and data center: two exemptions with dates that matter

Industrial projects report B&O under manufacturing or wholesaling at 0.484 percent [19], and the state's 531 warehousing and storage establishments [8] serve the freight flows in Table 11. Data centers carry the most date-bound rules on this page, summarized in Table 17.

Table 17. Washington data center exemption rules

Source: DOR tax incentive programs page [36].

The rural exemption is a sales and use tax exemption, and an operator that misses the building certification owes the exempted sales or use tax plus a 10 percent penalty [36], a contingent liability a study prices as a risk rather than ignores. An urban data center refurbished on or after July 1, 2026 does not qualify [36], so a study for a refurbishment now plans without the exemption. Equipment still goes on the business personal property listing that is due to the county assessor by April 30 each year [31], and the assessor values commercial property using sales together with the income and cost approaches [31].

How do Washington's taxes, rent limit and incentives move DSCR?

They move it in four places: B&O tax is an operating expense measured on gross receipts, sales and lodging taxes are collected from customers and belong outside revenue, the rent limit caps how fast rental income can be raised, and property tax, REET and deferrals change what a project costs to carry and to buy [18][20][55][30][29]. The first and third are the Washington-specific ones, and the three illustrative models below isolate them. Property tax and REET come first because every model carries them.

Property tax in Washington is assessed at full value and limited at the district level, not the bill. County assessors must value all property at 100 percent of its true and fair market value at its highest and best use; the assessor values and the county treasurer collects, and the Department of Revenue collects none of it [30]. The tax is about 30 percent of all state and local taxes, and a payment unpaid after April 30 is delinquent and accrues 1 percent interest a month [30]. For income-producing property the assessor may use the income capitalization approach, real property is revalued every year with a physical inspection at least every six years, and an owner appeals to the county board of equalization by the later of July 1 of the assessment year or a set period after the change of value notice, which certain counties extend to 60 days [32]. A board may reconvene for property bought between July 1 and December 31 in an arm's-length sale at less than 90 percent of assessed value [32], which matters for an acquisition priced below the roll.

The levy limit is the rule most often misread in a projection. It caps the annual growth of each taxing district's levy at 1 percent, with revenue from new construction and improvements added on top, and most voter-approved levies, such as bonds and enhancement levies, sit outside it [33]. It does not cap an owner's bill, so a projection that grows property tax at 1 percent a year has assumed something the law does not say. Voters can lift a district's limit up to its statutory maximum rate [33], as Vancouver's 2024 fire levy lid lift did when it added $0.50 per $1,000 to 2025 taxes [69]. Table 18 collects the property tax figures this page uses.

Table 18. Washington property tax figures a projection uses

Source: DOR levy limit page [33]; DOR county ratio study [34]; Port of Seattle 2025 ACFR [66]; City of Tacoma 2025 ACFR [68]; City of Vancouver 2025 financial report [69].

Two lines in Table 18 change a projection's start. DOR says the state school levy for the 2027 tax year is rate-based at $2.075355 per $1,000 of market value, with the 1 percent growth limit returning in 2028 [33], so a study whose first operating year is 2027 uses that rate for the state's part. And the ratio study shows real property in King, Pierce and Spokane counties assessed below the 100 percent standard, at 93.6, 91.4 and 95.0 [34][30], so a study that applies a levy rate to its purchase price states that it has done so and what the result would be at the county's ratio. Model B shows both.

REET is the tax on the transfer itself. From January 1, 2027 the state portion is graduated: 1.1 percent of the price up to $551,000, 1.28 percent from $551,000 to $1,551,000, 2.75 percent from $1,551,000 to $3,051,000 and 3.0 percent above $3,051,000 [29]. The thresholds are reset every four years under RCW 82.45.060, local REET is added on top by location, and a transfer of 50 percent or more of the ownership of an entity that owns real property is taxed too [29]. Table 19 applies the bands to five prices.

Table 19. State REET on a sale closing on or after January 1, 2027

Source: DOR real estate excise tax page [29]; FSC computed each band and total. Local REET is extra and varies by location [29].

The effective rate climbs from 1.18 percent at $1,000,000 to 2.84 percent at $20,000,000 [29], so the larger the deal, the more a study's acquisition budget or sale proceeds depend on the closing date and the price band. REET does not enter net operating income, but it enters the sources and uses that size the loan and the reversion that an exit test relies on.

Illustrative model A: one 120-room hotel in Seattle and in Spokane. The model holds the hotel's own room rate, occupancy and costs the same in both cities so that only Washington's lodging rules differ [26]. It applies the fourth-quarter 2026 lodging total for each city's size class, 15.7 percent in Seattle, where every size class has that rate, and 12.1 percent plus a $5 nightly charge in Spokane for 40 or more units with income over $500,000 a year [26], and it charges retailing B&O at 0.471 percent on all gross receipts [20][19]. Every stay is assumed to be shorter than 30 days [20]. FSC chose the size, occupancy, room rate, other income, costs and loan payment; they are inputs, not observations.

Table 20. Illustrative model A: hotel taxes, B&O and DSCR in Seattle and Spokane

Source: lodging rates and nightly charges from DOR's fourth-quarter 2026 lodging table [26]; the retailing treatment of short stays from DOR's transient lodging guide [20]; the retailing rate from DOR's B&O classifications [19]; the consumer-tax character of the special hotel/motel and convention center taxes from DOR [23][24]. All remaining lines are FSC inputs or arithmetic from them; none describes the market.

On the revenue the hotel keeps, it covers debt service 1.30 times in either city [26][19]. The two Washington lines behave differently. The lodging taxes, $891,207 in Seattle and $844,534 in Spokane, are collected for the state and localities and leave DSCR untouched when they are handled correctly; booked as revenue, they would show coverage of 1.84 and 1.81 [26]. The Spokane nightly charge is fixed, so at the assumed $180 rate it adds 2.78 percent to the guest's price, and the two cities end up within $1.48 of each other per night even though Seattle's percentage is 3.6 points higher [26]. The B&O tax is the hotel's own cost: $29,091, which takes 0.02 off DSCR in a normal year [19]. Its weight shows in a bad year. If occupancy fell to 60 percent with expenses unchanged, the B&O tax would fall only 15.3 percent, to $24,635, while net operating income before it fell 43.5 percent, and DSCR would drop to 0.73 [19][18]. A tax on gross receipts does not shrink with the margin, which is the point of this page's thesis in its smallest form.

Illustrative model B: a 100-unit apartment building in Tacoma under the rent ceiling. A sponsor buys a stabilized building with in-place rents of $1,600 and plans to raise renewals to a market rent of $1,850, a 15.6 percent increase [55]. The model limits each 2026 renewal to the 9.683 percent ceiling the Attorney General's office gives for calendar 2026, assumes every tenancy is past its first 12 months and that 90 days' written notice has been given [55], and charges property tax at the 2025 Pierce County rate of $10.862023 per $1,000 on an assessed value equal to the $18,000,000 price [68][30]. Rent from tenancies of 30 days or more carries no B&O tax [20][21]. Rents, vacancy, costs, the loan payment and the coverage test used for resizing are FSC inputs.

Table 21. Illustrative model B: the sponsor's rent plan and the rent ceiling

Source: the rent ceiling, first-year and notice rules from the Attorney General's office [55]; the Pierce County rate from the City of Tacoma 2025 ACFR [68]; the 100 percent assessment standard from DOR [30]; the nontransient B&O exemption from DOR [21]. All remaining lines are FSC inputs or arithmetic from them.

The ceiling costs the plan $114,086 of gross potential rent and $108,382 of net operating income in the first renewal year [55]. Coverage falls from 1.21 to 1.11, below a 1.20 test, and a lender sizing to that test on the capped income would lend $13,870,257 rather than $15,000,000, a cut of $1,129,743 [55]. Nothing in the model assumes rents are below market by any particular amount; it shows that in Washington the speed of a mark-to-market plan is set by law, so a study spreads the increase over as many lease years as the ceiling requires and reports DSCR in each. The 2027 ceiling depends on CPI and is not in this page's sources, so the model stops at the first year. Assessment is the other Washington variable: at Pierce County's 2025 real property ratio of 91.4 [34], the property tax line would be $178,702, $16,814 lower, and DSCR at the ceiling would be 1.13 [34][68]. A study shows the base at 100 percent, as the law requires the assessor to aim for [30], and the ratio case beside it.

Illustrative model C: B&O tax on a fuel station's gross receipts. A buyer acquires a fuel station and convenience store for $4,500,000, closing on or after January 1, 2027 [29]. The model assumes $9,000,000 of gross receipts, $7,200,000 from fuel and $1,800,000 from the store, all reported under retailing at 0.471 percent [19], and a gross margin of $1,300,000. B&O is charged on gross income with no deduction for the cost of the fuel or any other cost [18]. Receipts, margin, costs and the loan payment are FSC inputs.

Table 22. Illustrative model C: a fuel station's DSCR with B&O on gross receipts

Source: the gross receipts base and the bar on deductions from DOR's B&O overview [18]; the retailing rate from DOR's classifications [19]; REET bands from DOR [29]. All remaining lines are FSC inputs or arithmetic from them.

On a fuel station the B&O tax is 6.6 percent of net operating income before it, because the tax is measured on $9,000,000 of receipts while the business lives on $1,300,000 of margin [18][19]. A projection that applies the rate to margin understates the tax by $36,267 and overstates DSCR by 0.08 [19]. The transfer adds $103,581 of state REET at an effective 2.30 percent before any local REET [29], which sits in the acquisition budget or the seller's proceeds as the purchase contract provides and does not touch DSCR. The tank enrollment that lets the station receive fuel at all [53] is a precondition of every line in the table.

The three models make one point in three settings. Washington's sales and lodging taxes are large but pass through when they are handled correctly; its B&O tax is small in rate but is a real expense on gross receipts that grows with volume and does not fall with margin; and its rent ceiling decides how fast a rental projection may climb. A study states each of those lines with its source, its date and the DSCR that results.

Where does FSC cover Washington assets in more depth?

FSC has no Washington-specific asset page yet, so a Washington project pairs the state rules on this page with FSC's national page for its asset type. FSC's model study of a Washington dental practice acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan shows what a finished study looks like.

The national pages, grouped by the Washington rule that most changes each one:

• Lodging and venues, where room count and stay length set the tax. Hotel, RV park, glamping and wedding venue. A Washington version adds the lodging class from DOR's quarterly table and the nontransient split [26][21].
• Food and drink, where the license follows the floor plan. Restaurant and brewery, read with the Liquor and Cannabis Board's dining-area and guest-tap rules [50][52].
• Fuel and auto, where B&O falls on every gallon's receipts. Gas station, truck stop and car wash, read with the tank Financial Assurance Program [53].
• Housing, where the rent ceiling sets the pace. Multifamily, manufactured housing community, mixed-use and senior housing, read with the Attorney General's rent rules [55].
• Care, where certificate of need or a DSHS or DCYF license comes first. Assisted living, skilled nursing, daycare and medical office [46][47][49].
• Education. Charter school, read against a fixed-term charter contract [58].
• Recreation on the water. Marina, with the DNR authorization as its own line [59].
• Storage, industrial and data. Self-storage, RV and boat storage, industrial, cold storage, data center and retail, read with the B&O classification each one reports under and, for data centers, the exemption dates [19][36].

Who prepares a Washington study, and which offices decide what it relies on?

An independent consultant prepares the study; a state-certified appraiser licensed by the Department of Licensing prepares any appraisal the lender orders; and the agencies and offices in Table 23 make the rulings and set the rates a Washington study has to date. The Department of Licensing describes the certified general license as covering appraisal services for all types of real property, and it requires 3,000 hours of supervised experience over 18 months or longer, at least 1,500 of them non-residential, plus 300 classroom hours of approved appraisal courses and a bachelor's degree [61]. It lists chapter 18.235 RCW among the laws governing appraisers [62]. A file that includes an appraisal shows that credential.

An appraisal and a study are not interchangeable. A Washington study asks whether income left after B&O tax, property tax and operating costs pays the loan; an appraisal states what the property is worth. Where each document stops is explained in FSC's appraisal comparison, market study comparison and business plan comparison. Washington's assessment system makes the difference concrete: the county assessor must value property at 100 percent of market value [30] and may use the income capitalization approach for income-producing property [32], so the income a study projects can become evidence in an assessment or an appeal without becoming a valuation of its own. For files tied to one program, see FSC's pages for an SBA study and a USDA study.

SBA coverage splits the state three ways. The Seattle District Office serves Washington except Clark, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and Skamania counties, which the Portland District Office serves, and a Spokane office serves twelve eastern counties: Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla and Whitman [14]. USDA rural determinations come from the Rural Development State Office [11].

Table 23. The Washington bodies whose rulings a study dates

Source: DOR pages [19][17][26][29][35][36]; DOR property tax pages [30][32]; OFM [41][44]; Liquor and Cannabis Board [50][52]; Department of Health [46][45]; DSHS [47][48]; DCYF [49]; Pollution Liability Insurance Agency [53]; Attorney General [55][56]; Charter School Commission [57][58]; Department of Natural Resources [59][60]; Department of Licensing [61][62]; SBA [14]; 7 CFR 5001.3 [11].

Which documents belong in a Washington study file?

A Washington file holds the dated record behind every tax, rate and limit the projection uses, so a reviewer can trace each line to the agency that set it. Table 24 lists the Washington-specific papers and what each one proves. Items every study needs regardless of state are on FSC's document checklist; a list fitted to one SBA or USDA deal can be produced with the SBA generator or the USDA generator.

Table 24. Washington records to assemble before review

Source: DOR [19][17][26][21][37][31][32][29][35][36]; Attorney General [55]; Liquor and Cannabis Board [50]; Department of Health [46]; DSHS [47]; DCYF [49]; Pollution Liability Insurance Agency [53]; Department of Natural Resources [59]; Charter School Commission [58]; Department of Licensing [61]; OFM and the Census Bureau [41][1].

Why do some Washington studies cost more or take longer than others?

The difference is scope: every extra tax classification, address, size class or approval calendar a project touches adds work. This page quotes no fees or schedules. How fees are set is explained in FSC's 2026 cost guide, a range for a given project comes from the cost estimator, and a sponsor unsure whether to start with a narrower market study can use the decision tree. Six Washington drivers set the scope.

• More than one B&O classification. A hotel with a restaurant, a fuel station with a car wash or a care campus with child care reports under more than one classification [18][19], and each stream needs its own rate and, for service activities, its own receipt band.
• Rates that change by quarter and address. Local sales and lodging rates can change every quarter and follow the customer's location [16][27], so a project that delivers or sells across city lines, or opens in a later quarter, rechecks its rates against the table in force.
• A size class near a threshold. A lodging project near 25, 40 or 50 units, or near Spokane's $500,000 income line, is studied on both sides of the line [26][23].
• A rent plan that must be scheduled. A value-add or acquisition study for rental housing works unit by unit through first-year, notice and ceiling rules [55], which takes longer than applying one growth rate.
• Approvals with their own calendars. Certificate of need [46], DSHS and DCYF licensing [47][49], tank enrollment [53], DNR authorization [59] and a charter renewal [58] each set a date the projection waits on.
• Two population series and a cross-state metro. Reconciling OFM's and the Census Bureau's counts for each trade-area county [41][10] adds a step, and a Clark County study separates its Washington trade area from the Oregon part of the metro [10].