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Lucas County

Toledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)

In short

Toledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District) issues 9 permits we publish for Lucas County, last verified 2026-09-30. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Mobile Food Service Operation Licenseonly if it applies to youToledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)$150.76–$273.52 a year, per mobile unit — $150.76 low risk and $273.52 high risk on the department's 2026 Program Fees schedule, each total including the $28.00 state amount; mobile plan review and mobile remodel are shown on the same schedule with a dash and carry no chargeannual, on the same licensing period as a permanent food license — the first day of March to the last day of February of the next succeeding year2026-09-30
Body Art (Tattoo / Body Piercing) Establishment Approvalonly if it applies to youToledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)Toledo-Lucas County Health Department 2026 Program Fees schedule, headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026': Tattoo $664.13; Body Piercing $664.13; Tattoo & Body Piercing (combined services) $779.63; Time Limited Event (temporary) $55.00. An Application Fee of $100.00 is charged in addition to the tattoo or body piercing establishment fee.one year — ORC 3730.03 provides that approval remains valid for one year unless earlier suspended or revoked, may be renewed, and is not transferable2026-09-30
Sewage Installer, Service Provider and Septage Hauler Registrationonly if it applies to youToledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)Toledo-Lucas County Health Department 2026 Program Fees schedule, headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026': Installer Registration $280.00; Service Provider Registration $280.00; Septage Hauler Registration $280.00; Septage Vehicle Permit $150.00; Compliance or Re-Inspection $100.00.the registration period is not stated on the department's published fee schedule; ORC 3718.02(A)(8) leaves the criteria and procedures for the registration to the director of health's rules. Contact Environmental Health on (419) 213-4100, option 4, for the period currently applied2026-09-30
Temporary Food Licenseonly if it applies to youToledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)$164.75 per operator, per event — the whole amount is the health district's fee, with no state component on this line of the 2026 Program Fees scheduleper event; ORC 3717.01(K) defines a temporary food service operation as one operated at an event for not more than five consecutive days2026-09-30
Semi-Public Sewage Disposal System Program Feeonly if it applies to youToledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)Semi-Public Sewage Disposal Program, commercial tiers by design flow, on the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026': Commercial Type A, 10,000 to 25,000 gallons per day, $475.00; Commercial Type B, 5,000 to 9,999 GPD, $300.00; Commercial Type C, 1,500 to 4,999 GPD, $260.00; Commercial Type D, 1 to 4,999 GPD, $200.00; Commercial Type E, non-mechanical, $160.00; Commercial Type H, holding tanks, $50.00.annual programme fee, charged for each year the system is in service2026-09-30
Food Service Operation / Retail Food Establishment Licenseonly if it applies to youToledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)Total Fee column of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department's 2026 Program Fees schedule, headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026'. Commercial, less than 25,000 sq ft: Level 1 $291.94; Level 2 $327.16; Level 3 $613.10; Level 4 $773.68. Commercial, 25,000 sq ft or more: Level 1 $415.90; Level 2 $437.03; Level 3 $1,514.60; Level 4 $1,604.76. Each total is the health district's own license fee plus a $28.00 state amount collected under ORC 3717.45(C)(1) — for example Level 1 under 25,000 sq ft is $263.94 plus $28.00 — as broken out in the department's 2026 Food Program Fee Letter.annual; the licensing period runs from the first day of March to the last day of February of the next succeeding year (ORC 3717.01(P)), except that a license issued to a new food service operation after the first day of December runs to the end of the next succeeding licensing period (ORC 3717.43(C)(1)(a))2026-09-30
Vending Machine Location Licenseonly if it applies to youToledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)$17.23 a year, per vending machine location — $11.23 health district fee plus a $6.00 state amount, as broken out in the department's 2026 Food Program Fee Letterannual, on the food licensing period — the first day of March to the last day of February of the next succeeding year2026-09-30
Public Swimming Pool, Spa and Special Use Pool Licenseonly if it applies to youToledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)No amount is published for this license. The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department's current fee schedule — the 2026 Program Fees document the department links as its current schedule, headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026' — contains no Swimming Pool Program section, and the department published 2026 fee letters for its food, private water, semi-public sewage, septic, bathing beach and City of Toledo livestock programmes without one for pools. The Board of Health's proposed 2027 Environmental Health fees, taken in first reading on 24 September 2026, cover food safety, food safety plan review, body art, campground, rabies shipping and lead, and do not reach pools either. Contact Environmental Health on (419) 213-4100, option 4, for the amount currently charged.annual — ORC 3749.04(C) provides that each license is effective from the date of issuance until the last day of May of the following year; an existing pool applies during the month of April, and a new or otherwise unlicensed pool at least thirty days before the intended start of operation2026-09-30
Food Plan Review and Pre-Licensing Feesonly if it applies to youToledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District)Food Program Plan Review Category of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department's 2026 Program Fees schedule, headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026': Remodel Plan Review $210.00; Plan Review Class 1 & 2, less than 25,000 sq ft, $315.00; Plan Review Class 3 & 4, less than 25,000 sq ft, $470.00; Plan Review Class 1 to 4 at 25,000 sq ft or more $500.00; Expedited review $1,260.00 in addition to the applicable plan review fee; Prelicense Reinspection $100.00 for each reinspection needed; Reprint of a Level One Certification Card $10.00. The department's 2026 Food Program Fee Letter shows a $0.00 state component on each of these lines.per project — one review per plan submission, with a separate charge for each pre-licensing reinspection required2026-09-30

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

About each permit

Mobile Food Service Operation License

A food truck, cart or trailer whose business headquarters are in Lucas County applies to the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, and the reason is statutory rather than local: ORC 3717.43(A) directs a mobile application 'to the licensor for the health district in which the applicant's business headquarters are located'. The corollary is worth as much to an operator as the fee — ORC 3717.43(B) provides that 'A mobile or catering food service operation license issued by one licensor shall be recognized by all other licensors in this state', so a Lucas County mobile license works statewide and a truck headquartered in another Ohio county does not buy a second license to trade here. The two figures come from the department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026', with the license and state components broken out in the department's 2026 Food Program Fee Letter; the risk classification decides which applies. ORC 3717.01(I) keeps a unit inside the mobile category only while it moves: an operation that remains at any one location for more than forty consecutive days is no longer a mobile food service operation. The department's own mobile packet also points an operator at two things outside the health department — the separate City of Toledo mobile food permit for trading in the city, and a fire-safety inspection by the local fire jurisdiction, with a Type I hood and fire suppression required where a hood is needed for heat. A truck selling goods subject to Ohio sales tax from a fixed base in the county also needs the county vendor's license recorded separately for Lucas County.

Body Art (Tattoo / Body Piercing) Establishment Approval

A studio offering tattooing or body piercing anywhere in Lucas County applies to the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department for approval to operate; an ordinary hair or nail salon offering neither has no body art approval to obtain. ORC 3730.03 puts the application with 'the board of health of the city or general health district in which the business is located', requires the fee established under ORC 3709.09 to accompany it, and makes the approval valid for one year and not transferable — so a studio changing hands applies afresh rather than taking over the seller's approval. The figures are read from the department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026'. Two of them catch people out: the $100.00 application fee is charged in addition to the establishment fee, not instead of it, so a combined tattoo and piercing studio budgets $879.63 in its first year; and a guest artist or convention trading for a limited period uses the $55.00 time-limited event license rather than the establishment approval. The department's Body Art Establishment Planning Application and Body Art Time-Limited Event Application are both linked from its Environmental Health fees page, and that page states that time-limited body art event fees are non-refundable. The Board of Health took proposed 2027 Body Art fees in first reading on 24 September 2026; the proposed figures are not published, so expect this programme's amounts to change on or about 1 January 2027. Cosmetology and barbering licensure is a separate state function under the State Cosmetology and Barber Board and is not part of this approval.

Sewage Installer, Service Provider and Septage Hauler Registration

A contractor installing sewage treatment systems, servicing them, or hauling septage in Lucas County registers with the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department before doing that work. The requirement is a state one administered locally: ORC 3718.02(A)(8) directs the director of health's rules to 'Require a board of health to register installers, service providers, and septage haulers that perform work within the health district; prescribe criteria and procedures for the registration; and prescribe criteria for a demonstration of competency as a part of the registration.' The three registrations are priced identically at $280.00 on the department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026', so a firm that installs, services and hauls pays for each category it operates in rather than one combined amount. A septage hauler also pays $150.00 for each vehicle permit, which is charged per vehicle rather than per firm, and a compliance or re-inspection is $100.00. This registration is separate from, and does not substitute for, the Lucas County Building Regulations contractor registration or the Sanitary Engineer's Sewer Tapper's License recorded separately for Lucas County — a septic contractor connecting a building to a county sanitary sewer needs the sewer tapper license as well.

Temporary Food License

A vendor serving food at a festival, fair or other short-term event anywhere in Lucas County, Toledo included, uses this license. The $164.75 figure is the Commercial Temporary line on the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026', and the department's 2026 Food Program Fee Letter shows a state component of $0.00 for it, so the whole amount is the health district's. The department's own temporary packet sets out the practical rules, and they are strict enough to plan around: the application and payment must be submitted a minimum of ten days before the scheduled event, and 'Applications and payment will not be accepted on the day of the event.' Each operator serving food at an event must be licensed separately, even during ticketed events, so a single organiser's license does not cover the vendors trading under it. An inspection is conducted on the day of the event and the license is issued after that inspection. The department's Environmental Health fees page also carries a payment term that matters at this price point: 'Effective July 23, temporary license fees for food, campgrounds, and time-limited body art events are non-refundable. All payments are final and irrevocable.' An operator running more than five consecutive days at one event is outside the temporary category under ORC 3717.01(K) and needs the mobile or permanent license recorded separately for Lucas County.

Semi-Public Sewage Disposal System Program Fee

A business in Lucas County that is not connected to a sanitary sewer and disposes of sewage through its own semi-public system pays an annual programme fee to the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, set by the tier its system falls into. The figures above are the commercial tiers of the department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026'. Which tier applies turns on the system's design flow in gallons per day and on whether it is mechanical: a small restaurant or veterinary clinic on a modest non-mechanical system sits at the bottom of the range, while a large facility approaching 25,000 gallons per day sits at the top. Holding tanks are priced separately and lowest at $50.00. The schedule also carries non-commercial tiers and an exempt-government line, neither of which reaches a commercial operator. This fee is distinct from the household sewage treatment system permits on the same schedule, which apply to dwellings rather than to businesses, and from the registration a contractor needs to install or service such a system, which is recorded separately for Lucas County. A business planning a build-out on an on-site system should expect the sewage programme and the food plan review to run in parallel rather than one after the other.

Food Service Operation / Retail Food Establishment License

The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department licenses food service operations and retail food establishments for the whole county, and this is the single most useful thing to know about food licensing here: the Ohio Department of Health's own directory entry for the department reads 'Serving the city of Toledo and all of Lucas County', so a restaurant, coffee shop, grocery or convenience store in Toledo goes to the same licensor as one in Sylvania or an unincorporated township, with no separate city health department in between. The City of Toledo's own business-license page says the same thing from the other side: 'Food Safety — Licensing of food vendors is managed by the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department.' The eight figures above are read from the department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026' — the file the department links as its current fee schedule — and each one is independently reproduced by the department's 2026 Food Program Fee Letter, which publishes the license-fee and state-fee components separately and records the ORC 3709.09(C) public hearing held on 20 November 2025. Two mechanics matter at application time. A license is not transferable: the department's January 2026 planning application states 'TLCHD requires a plan review application and new license when change of ownership occurs. Transferring of licenses is not permitted.' And occupancy comes first — a pre-licensing inspection can be arranged only after a certificate of occupancy has been issued, with two business days' notice to schedule. A licensed child care centre that prepares or serves food needs this license; ORC 3717.42(B)(8) exempts type A and type B family child care homes preparing or serving food for the children in their care, and (B)(7) exempts an operation serving thirteen or fewer individuals daily. Expect these figures to move: the Board of Health took proposed 2027 Food Safety fees in first reading on 24 September 2026, and the proposed figures are not published.

Vending Machine Location License

Ohio treats a vending machine location as a food service operation, so a gym with a snack or drink machine, a retail store, an auto-repair waiting room or a child care centre operating a licensable machine is inside the same ORC Chapter 3717 scheme as a restaurant, licensed by the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department for the whole county. The $17.23 total is the vending line of the department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026', and the department's 2026 Food Program Fee Letter splits it into an $11.23 health district fee and a $6.00 state amount, footnoting the line with a 2.9% CPI increase. It is the cheapest food license the department issues by a wide margin, and it runs on the same annual licensing period as the permanent food license, so a business holding both renews them together. A premises that already holds a permanent food service operation license should confirm with the department which of its machines are separately licensable before paying per machine location.

Public Swimming Pool, Spa and Special Use Pool License

A gym, fitness studio or hotel-style facility operating a public swimming pool, public spa or special use pool in Lucas County needs this license; a studio without a pool, spa or hot tub on site has no pool license to obtain. The requirement is statutory and unambiguous — ORC 3749.04(A) provides that no person shall operate or maintain a public swimming pool, public spa or special use pool without a license issued by the licensor having jurisdiction — and the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department is that licensor and still runs the programme: its Public Swimming Pools page cites ORC Chapter 3749 and OAC Chapter 3701-31, states 'Our inspectors will routinely inspect every public swimming pool (while open to the public)', refers to 'our licensed facilities' and publishes pool, spa and splashpad inspection reports. The fee is the part a reader must get from the department directly. No pool fee is published in the schedule the department links as its current one, and the last pool figures the department published were for the 2025 license year. Amounts circulating as '2026 pool fees' come from a February 2026 posting of the schedule that the department replaced in March 2026 with a version that drops the pool section, so they are not published figures and none is repeated here. Plan approval for a new or substantially altered pool is a separate State of Ohio function handled by the director of health under ORC 3749.03, not by the county. Timing matters more than usual for this license: an existing pool applies during April, and a new one at least thirty days before it intends to open, with the licensor allowed thirty days to process the application.

Food Plan Review and Pre-Licensing Fees

Plan review is the step most food businesses in Lucas County meet first, and the department's own January 2026 planning application is explicit about when it bites: a plan review is required 'when remodeling a facility or a change of ownership occurs', and 'Plans will need to be submitted in all cases.' Because the department does not permit a license to transfer, buying an existing restaurant triggers both a plan review and a new license rather than an assignment of the seller's. The figures above are the Food Program Plan Review Category of the department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026'. The class and size boundary follows the schedule's own wording — 'Class 1-4 Large (equal to and greater than 25,000 sq.ft)' — so a facility at exactly 25,000 square feet falls in the large band, the same convention used for the license bands recorded separately for Lucas County. The expedited charge of $1,260.00 is payable on top of the applicable plan review fee rather than instead of it. A pre-licensing inspection follows plan approval and can be arranged only after a certificate of occupancy has been issued; each additional pre-license reinspection is $100.00. Plan review questions go to the department's plan review line, (419) 213-4079, or tlchdplanreview@co.lucas.oh.us. The Board of Health took proposed 2027 Food Safety Plan Review fees in first reading on 24 September 2026, so these figures should be expected to change on or about 1 January 2027.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Lucas County
Phone
419-213-4100

Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.

Sources

Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

  1. 2026 Program Fees, headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026' — the schedule the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department links as 'CURRENT FEE SCHEDULE: 2026', covering food, plan review, body art, semi-public sewage and sewage registrations; it carries no Swimming Pool Program sectionToledo-Lucas County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  2. Board of Health meeting agenda, 24 September 2026, headed 'Lucas County Regional Health District' — takes 'Environmental Health Proposed 2027 Fees — First Reading' for Food Safety, Food Safety Plan Review, Body Art and Campground, plus a new rabies shipping fee and new lead programme feesLucas County Regional Health District, Board of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  3. Environmental Health Fees & Inspections — the department's own fee page, which links the current fee schedule and states 'Effective July 23, temporary license fees for food, campgrounds, and time-limited body art events are non-refundable'Toledo-Lucas County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  4. Food Program 2026 Fee Letter (24 October 2025) — publishes the license-fee and state-fee components of each band ($28.00 state amount per food license, $6.00 per vending machine location), cites OAC 3701-21-02.2 and 901:3-4-04, and gives the ORC 3709.09(C) public hearing of 20 November 2025Lucas County Regional Health District, Board of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  5. Mobile Food Service Operation application packet — names the separate City of Toledo mobile food permit and requires a fire-safety inspection by the local fire jurisdiction, with a Type I hood and fire suppression where a hood is required for heatToledo-Lucas County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  6. New Food Business Planning Application (January 2026) — states 'TLCHD requires a plan review application and new license when change of ownership occurs. Transferring of licenses is not permitted.' and that a pre-licensing inspection can be arranged only after a certificate of occupancy has been issuedToledo-Lucas County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  7. ORC 3709.09 — a board of health may by rule establish a uniform system of fees to pay the costs of services it provides, after a public hearing on at least 20 days' written notice to each affected entity, with a 25% late-payment penalty and publication requirements for the adopted rulesOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  8. ORC 3717.01 — definitions: licensing period (1 March to the last day of February), mobile food service operation and the forty-consecutive-day rule, and temporary food service operationOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  9. ORC 3717.41 — no person or government entity shall operate a food service operation without a license, and a separate license is required for each food service operationOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  10. ORC 3717.42 — exemptions, including (B)(7) a food service operation serving thirteen or fewer individuals daily and (B)(8) a type A or type B family child care home preparing or serving food for the children receiving child careOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  11. ORC 3717.43 — a licensor may issue not more than ten temporary food service operation licenses per licensing period to the same person or government entityOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  12. ORC 3717.45 — food service operation license fees set on the licensor's cost of regulation after a public hearing, the state fee component, and the plan-review fee authorised for operations other than mobile and temporaryOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  13. ORC 3718.02 — sewage treatment system rules; (A)(8) requires a board of health to register installers, service providers and septage haulers performing work within the health district and to prescribe the criteria and procedures for the registrationOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  14. ORC 3730.03 — application to the board of health of the city or general health district for approval to operate a tattooing or body piercing business, the fee established under ORC 3709.09, one-year validity and non-transferabilityOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  15. ORC 3749.04 — no public swimming pool, public spa or special use pool may operate without a license from the licensor having jurisdiction; April application window, 30-day rule for a new pool, expiry on the last day of May, and the cost-based local fee plus the director of health's added amountOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  16. Public Swimming Pools — the department's own programme page, citing ORC Chapter 3749 and OAC Chapter 3701-31, stating 'Our inspectors will routinely inspect every public swimming pool (while open to the public)' and referring to 'our licensed facilities'Toledo-Lucas County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  17. Temporary Food Service Operation packet and application — application and payment at least 10 days before the event, none accepted on the day of the event, each operator licensed separately even at ticketed events, and an inspection on the day before the license issuesToledo-Lucas County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  18. Toledo-Lucas County Health Department — the Ohio Department of Health's own directory entry: 'Serving the city of Toledo and all of Lucas County', 635 N. Erie Street, Toledo, OH 43604Ohio Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30

Other offices serving Lucas County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

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