Bellingham Sales Tax Rate: 9.10%

9.10% combined sales and use tax (Q1 2026 per WA Department of Revenue). 6.50% state plus 2.60% in local layers — Whatcom Transportation Authority, Whatcom County criminal-justice/public-safety/behavioral-health, and Bellingham city basic/optional/transportation/affordable-housing/LLEP layers.

WA sales tax is geography- and jurisdiction-additive. Inside city limits the Bellingham layers (basic 0.50%, optional 0.50%, TBD 0.20%, AH 0.10%, LLEP 0.10% = 1.40%) stack on top of the state, transit, and county-wide layers. Outside Bellingham in unincorporated Whatcom, only the state/transit/county layers apply.

Some can be imposed councilmanically (no public vote), others require voter approval. Bellingham's basic (RCW 82.14.030(1)) and optional (RCW 82.14.030(2)) are councilmanic. The Affordable Housing 0.10%, TBD 0.20%, and LLEP 0.10% required voter approval. Whatcom County's CJ 0.10% (RCW 82.14.340) and Behavioral Health 0.10% (RCW 82.14.460) are councilmanic; the Justice Project 0.20% (RCW 82.14.450 newer) was voter-approved Nov 2023. The 2025 Washington legislature passed HB 2015 authorizing a new 0.10% public-safety sales tax that cities and counties can impose councilmanically — voter approval explicitly removed if action is taken by June 30, 2028.

Each layer flows into a specific governmental fund. The state's 6.50% goes to the WA State General Fund. WTA's 0.60% funds bus + paratransit operations. Bellingham's basic + optional 1.00% flows to the city General Fund. The Affordable Housing 0.10% goes to Fund 182. The Public Safety Sales Tax shares (Justice Project 0.20% city-share, LLEP 0.10%, future HB 2015 0.10%) flow to Fund 120. The TBD 0.20% funds street preservation in the Transportation Benefit District. See the "Where the money goes" section above for clickable fund-detail pages.

Same statute (RCW 82.14.450), different increments. The older 0.10% has been in place for years and goes 2/3 to EMS + 1/3 to CJ purposes (Whatcom Fund 1240). The newer 0.20% Justice Project tax was voter-approved Nov 2023 and dedicates the full amount to public-health/safety/justice purposes — including the new County jail. Both stack on every Bellingham retail sale. The 0.20% increment's destination fund (Whatcom County Public Safety and Justice Facility Fund) is separate from Fund 1240.

Sales tax applies to every retail purchase you make inside Bellingham; property tax applies to real property you own. They're tracked separately on Real Record. For Bellingham's property-tax breakdown by levy + jurisdiction, see All Levies or look up your specific property at Property Tax History.