Collin County expects a lot more food truck inspections on its plate, and commissioners are set to pay for extra help on Monday, Oct. 12.
A budget amendment on the Commissioners Court consent agenda would move $34,000 from the county's non-departmental contingency fund into a contract labor account for the Development Services department. The money was already approved in the fiscal 2027 budget, according to the department's memo.
Why the work is landing on the county
The memo says Development Services recently signed an agreement with the Texas Department of State Health Services to handle mobile food vendor permitting and inspections in the county's own jurisdiction and, on their behalf, for other cities in the county.
The department plans to use the $34,000 to contract with a registered sanitarian to help with what it calls a "significant increase" in permits and inspections.
That shift traces to House Bill 2844, which the Legislature passed on May 26, 2025, and which is now Chapter 437B of the Texas Health and Safety Code. Under the new system, every mobile food vendor in Texas has needed a state license from DSHS since July 1, 2026.
Before that, vendors had to get a separate license from the local health department in each place they worked.
What vendors pay the state
DSHS sorts vendors into three license types based on how much food preparation happens on the vehicle. The application fee is $309 for Type I, $618 for Type II and $876 for Type III, and the two higher types also pay a pre-licensing inspection fee of $400 or $500.
Routine inspections cost $400 or $500 for those types, and complaint or compliance inspections run $300 to $500.
