It’s a tale of two economies in Benton and Franklin counties based on the latest taxable retail sales data recently released by state revenue officials.

While the state’s taxable retail sales grew by 3.9% in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, Benton County saw more than 9% growth, reaching $1.7 billion. Franklin County’s retail activity slipped, with its taxable retail sales dropping 5.5% to $721.3 million during the same period.

Each county’s communities reflected their respective county’s trends. In Benton County, Benton City saw sales increase by 21.5%. West Richland grew more than 17% while Kennewick and Richland came in slightly below the county average at 7.7% and 8.6%, respectively. Only Prosser lost ground, with its taxable retail sales declining 9%.

In Franklin County, decline was the rule rather than the exception. Only the unincorporated parts of the county managed to see any growth but less than half a percent. Pasco’s taxable retail sales fell 5.6% but it was outlying communities that were hit the hardest. Mesa’s taxable retail sales fell nearly 19%, Kahlotus’ more than 25%, and Connell was down 26%.

“Yes, sales are down across Connell due to the Lamb Weston closure,” Connell Mayor Shelly Harper told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. “Our restaurants and some stores have noticed less customers since the closure.”

Lamb Weston, one of the Mid-Columbia’s largest employers, shuttered the Connell potato processing plant and laid off the facility’s roughly 375 workers as part of a restructuring plan in October 2024.

Taxable retail sales are transactions subject to the retail sales tax, including sales by retailers, the construction industry, manufacturing, auto dealers and other sectors. Growth in taxable retail sales often translates to increased tax revenue for municipalities and counties to support services and programs, while a decline can squeeze budgets.

At the state level, revenue officials credited sales of furniture, home furnishings, electronics, appliances and construction for the state hitting $63.4 billion in taxable retail sales during the third quarter. However, retail trade – a subset of taxable retail sales that excludes services and construction, also grew in the state by 3.2% to $25.3 billion.

Tri-City sales

In Kennewick, the bump in taxable retail sales yielded a 6.6% increase in sales tax revenues, or nearly $1.7 million, the city’s Finance Director Jessica Platt told the Journal in a statement. Roughly a third of the increase was from new construction alone, while the retail sector saw a 1% increase. 

“Sales tax revenue collected by the city from new construction is considered one-time funding,” Platt said. “These funds are recorded in the city’s capital improvement program fund and used for acquisition or construction of major capital facilities and infrastructure as determined by the Kennewick City Council.”

But that boom in new construction wasn’t seen in Pasco. City officials there saw a downward trend in spending in the construction sector, which was partly a result from a boom in the past several years. 

“A key factor is that we anticipated the decline in sales tax for this biennium, especially anticipating impact of high interest rates on vehicle sales and accounting for large industrial construction projects that have boosted the sales tax for the past five years,” Richa Sigdel, Pasco’s deputy city manager, said in a statement to the Journal. 

However, while still waiting for tax collections to be finalized for the rest of 2025, Pasco officials said their preliminary figures don’t indicate the city is facing a significant deviation in tax revenue from what it planned for in its budget. 

Lamb Weston effect

In Connell, the decline in taxable retail sales, which led to a roughly $34,000, or 7%, drop in sales tax revenue, is only part of the pain it’s experiencing. Lamb Weston’s plant was the main source of revenue for the city’s water system and its property tax receipts will suffer once the company demolishes the plant, scheduled to take place this year. 

Harper said she and the city are doing what they can to fill the gap from Lamb Weston’s departure and ensure the community can continue to support its citizens. 

“I am working on several new angles within the city to enforce codes, get the town cleaned up, parks upgraded, beautification everywhere we possibly can, and also try and get some of our empty buildings on our main street sold, refurbished or opened into viable businesses,” she told the Journal. “I am also streamlining our building and planning department and procedures to make it easier and cheaper for businesses and individuals to build inside Connell city limits.”