Eduardo Ponce has been in the food truck business for 15 years. He currently operates "La Bamba" and "La Frontera" near Port Avenue and Guadalupe Street.
When we spoke to him, he wasn't aware of the proposed increase in the cost of a permit. He said he usually goes in January every year to pay his fees.
The City of Corpus Christi is proposing rates for permits, including food trucks and restaurants to increase. It will be discussed in Tuesday's city council meeting.
Ponce said that since the pandemic he has seen a drastic downturn in the economy.
His business has also taken a hit and the increase in the fees for permits will not help at all.
"This will contribute to inflation, obviously prices for everything will go up and will continue to go up and it does affect us, but we have to adapt," he said.
By adapting what he means is that his prices will have to also go up and he wants his customers to understand that.
"The cost has to go up because if they up our prices, then our products have to also go up, so that we can still manage to stay afloat with our business and keep our employees," Ponce said.
According to the city, there has not been a significant increase in the permit fees since 2006. These increases are proposed after conducting a fee study in June of this year. The study showed that the environmental consumer health service fees in Corpus Christi are lower than in other major cities in Texas.
“ We as business owners understand the situation that the city also has to adjust to the times were are now living in today,” Ponce said.
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