5 permits · verified 2026-08-25
What permits do you need to open a childcare centre in Castle Hills?
In short
A childcare centre in Castle Hills, TX has 3 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 2 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. City of Castle Hills charges $150 per certificate for the certificate of occupancy. 1 of the 5 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-08-25 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.
The permits at a glance
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Castle Hills | $150 per certificate | not stated in the published schedule | 2026-08-25 |
| Child Care Licence | Texas Health and Human Services | $35 application, then an annual fee of $35 plus $1 per child of licensed capacity | annual | 2026-08-20 |
| Certificate of Formationonly if it applies to you | Texas Secretary of State | $300 one-time filing | no expiry | 2026-08-20 |
| Assumed Name Certificate (DBA)only if it applies to you | Texas Secretary of State | $25 one-time filing | up to ten years, renewable | 2026-08-21 |
| Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | No fee — there is no fee for this permit | no expiry while actively engaged in business | 2026-08-21 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
How much does it actually cost to permit a childcare centre in Castle Hills?
There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 5 records listed for a childcare centre in Castle Hills, TX, 3 apply to every business of this type and 2 are conditional. Adding every fee on the page together would overstate what most operators pay, because it would include permits they never need.
Of the 3 that always apply, 2 carry a flat fee, coming to $150.00. That is a floor, not a total. 1 of the 5 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 0 have no fee published at all. The ones that vary:
Child Care Licence: $35 application, then an annual fee of $35 plus $1 per child of licensed capacity
Which offices issue these permits in Castle Hills?
Permits for a childcare centre in Castle Hills, TX come from 4 separate offices: City of Castle Hills, Texas Health and Human Services, Texas Secretary of State, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.
Is anything about these requirements changing?
$150 for a commercial certificate of occupancy; a residential one is free. Cheap against Plano's $140 and Amarillo's $151 for a comparable step — Castle Hills is a small city and prices accordingly. Work in the right of way and a curb cut are $50 each, plus any engineering fees incurred.
Worked example: a centre licensed for 100 children pays $135 a year ($35 + $1 x 100). The annual fee falls on the anniversary of the date the initial licence was issued, not on a calendar date.
Required to form an LLC or corporation, not to trade as a sole proprietor. Texas has no statewide general business licence, so for many businesses this filing plus a sales and use tax permit is the entire state-level obligation.
Only needed if you trade under a name different from the one on your formation filing. The certificate is effective for a term not exceeding ten years from the date of filing and does not roll over by itself — it must be actively renewed, and a new certificate can be filed within six months of the original expiring. The $25 is the Secretary of State fee; sole proprietors and general partnerships file with the county clerk instead, at county rates.
There is no fee for this permit — the Comptroller says so directly, which is worth stating because a blank fee reads as though nobody knows. It does not expire on a date, but it is not permanent either: it is valid only while you are actively engaged in business as a seller, and the Comptroller's office may cancel it on finding that you are not. Filing obligations keep it alive, so a return must be filed for every period even when there were no taxable sales or purchases to report. Apply through Comptroller eSystems and allow two to three weeks.
Sources
Every figure above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown. Confirmed by Editorial Team.
- City of Castle Hills Master Fee Schedule, 12 November 2025 (filed with Texas DSHS)City of Castle Hills, filed with Texas Department of State Health Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-25
- 5200, Fees — Child Care Regulation HandbookTexas Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-20
- Formation of Texas Entities FAQs - Texas Secretary of StateTexas Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-22
- Form 503 - Instructions for Assumed Name CertificateTexas Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-22
- Sales and Use Tax Permit — Texas ComptrollerTexas Comptroller of Public Accounts · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-20
Related
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- Childcare centres in Pasadena, TX
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Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.
