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El Campo council approves fee-schedule update after debate over food-truck charges
Summary
Council debated proposed higher permanent fees for food trucks during consideration of Ordinance 2025-14; some council members said food trucks do not compete with brick-and-mortar restaurants while another speaker raised property-tax differences. The ordinance passed by voice vote.
The City of El Campo on Sept. 22 approved Ordinance 2025-14, updating the city’s fee schedule (Article A5 health-related fees, section A5.002) after a period of debate over whether food-truck vendors should pay higher permanent fees than brick-and-mortar restaurants.
A councilmember (Speaker 4) opposed the change and described outreach to ten local restaurants, reporting that nine said food trucks do not affect their business and one said they only noticed a small effect during large food-truck events. Speaker 4 said, “I don't see a sales tax issue because our food trucks travel outside the city as well, and they're bringing in sales tax that's not just here in El Campo,” and argued it would be unfair to impose an extra $50 permanent fee on food-truck operators.
Another participant (Speaker 10) countered that brick-and-mortar restaurants pay property taxes while food trucks do not and suggested food-truck operators should pay somewhat more to offset that difference. Staff and other council members discussed permitting and sales-tax collection briefly. After discussion, the council conducted a voice vote and the ordinance was adopted.
The transcript does not record a roll-call tally or indicate whether any amendments were adopted. The council did not record additional fee-by-fee detail in the recorded discussion; city staff are the implementation point for the updated fee schedule.
