Pacific County sales tax revenue strong this spring

Pacific County sales tax revenue strong this spring

Published 12:47 pm Sunday, July 12, 2026

New monthly data from the Washington State Department of Revenue shows that local sales tax collections came in strong in the middle of spring, although lodging tax revenue remained well below previous highs.

Sales tax revenue for the City of Long Beach came in at $77,208 in April, the state agency reported at the beginning of July, the second highest amount brought in for the city in the month of April this decade. The City of Ilwaco collected $20,262 in April, also the second biggest haul in the 2020s for the city.

Along with providing a key source of revenue for cities and the county, tax collections — namely sales and lodging taxes — are one indicator that can be used to measure the health of an area’s economy.

While sales tax revenue — which has soared in the 2020s compared to the last half of the 2010s — remained in a strong position for the two cities, collections from lodging taxes continued their relative slump from recent highs.

Long Beach brought in $86,804 in lodging tax revenue in April, not far off from the previous two years but well below the more than $100,000 that the city collected in each of April 2021 and 2022. Ilwaco collected $3,631 in lodging taxes this April, up from the past two years but well off the pace that was set earlier in the decade, which topped out at $6,012 in April 2021.

Overall, Long Beach collected $265,306 in sales taxes through the first four months of 2026, down slightly from $272,035 over the same period in 2025. Lodging tax revenue came in at $275,639 through this April, also down from $279,263 compared to the year prior.

Ilwaco sales tax collections through April totaled $82,559, the third highest for that four-month stretch this decade. The $12,683 in lodging tax revenue is the fourth highest for the city in the 2020s.

For unincorporated Pacific County — which includes communities such as Seaview, Ocean Park, Chinook, Naselle, Bay Center and Tokeland — sales tax revenues clocked in at nearly $1.01 million through April, up from $890,709 over the same period in 2025 and the highest yield for the county this decade.

Lodging tax collections for the unincorporated areas of the county came in at $181,673 over the first four months of 2026, down from $185,413 compared to the year prior and only better than the pandemic-plagued 2020 this decade.