Waco
Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, Environmental Health Division
In short
Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, Environmental Health Division issues 4 permits we publish for Waco, last verified 2026-08-24. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary Food Permitonly if it applies to you | Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, Environmental Health Division | $52–$200 single event or annual multi-event | 1 to 14 days for a single event; one year for the multi-event permit | 2026-08-24 |
| Public Pool and Spa Permit | Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, Environmental Health Division | No fee | permitted and inspected annually | 2026-08-24 |
| Food Establishment Permit | Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, Environmental Health Division | $258–$685 per year, by risk category | one year | 2026-08-24 |
| Farmers Market Vendor Permitonly if it applies to you | Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, Environmental Health Division | $100 per vendor | not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-08-24 |
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
Temporary Food Permit
$52 for a single event of 1 to 14 days, doubling to $104 if submitted less than three business days before it. The multi-event annual permit at $200 pays for itself at four events — the clearest arithmetic on this page, and the reason a regular market trader should not be buying single-event permits.
Public Pool and Spa Permit
Public pools and spas across McLennan County are permitted and inspected every year — the ones at hotels, fitness clubs, apartment complexes, RV parks and water parks. The health district publishes the charges that attach to the permit, $200 for a reinspection and a $100 late payment fee, but not the permit fee itself, so no amount is recorded here. The inspection standards are published in full: free chlorine 1.0 to 8.0 ppm in a pool and 2.0 to 8.0 in a spa, pH 7.0 to 7.8, no combined chlorine, a DPD test kit on site with logged results, an air gap of twice the drainpipe diameter between equipment drains and the sewer, and a tested working safety vacuum release system. Chlorine tablets in skimmer baskets fail the inspection.
Food Establishment Permit
$258 low risk, $475 medium, $685 high. The low band matches the Texas DSHS standard permit fee exactly, but the high band is $685 — well above the $773 top band used by the sales-banded cities only because those bands are set on turnover rather than risk, so a small high-risk kitchen in Waco pays more than a large low-risk one. The district permits county-wide, so the same figures apply outside the city limits. School inspections are $258 for two inspections a year. Reinspection is $200, a variance or HACCP evaluation $150, and an additional pre-opening or consultation visit $150 — with one free per establishment, which is worth using.
Farmers Market Vendor Permit
$100 for each vendor who sells, distributes or prepares time and temperature controlled foods on site at a farmers market anywhere in McLennan County, and the permit must be displayed where customers can see it. It is separate from the market organiser's own license, which the city charges for under Article XI of the City Code — a market operator inside the Waco city limits needs both, one for the market and one per trading vendor.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Waco
- Phone
- Not verified — use the website
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.
- Food Establishments — Overview & Fees, effective 1 September 2025Waco-McLennan County Public Health District · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-24
- Permits & LicensesCity of Waco · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-24
Other offices serving Waco
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Texas jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.