Padre Island business owners say Corpus Christi is squeezing mom-and-pop shops as Corpus Christi City Council weighs changes.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi business owners on Padre Island say a proposed increase in city health fees could add another financial strain they’re not sure they can absorb.

City Council is considering raising permit and inspection fees for food establishments, following new state rules that outline how health departments can charge businesses. But City Councilwoman Kaylynn Paxson argues the state never required cities to hike fees to the maximum allowed and she says Corpus Christi shouldn’t.

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Along Park Road 22, two locally owned businesses say the proposal hits mom-and-pop shops the hardest.

At Kilates Coffee, owner Kathya Reppart is still settling into her new location. She says opening a small business already comes with a long list of expenses and higher city fees would only add to it.

“There’s so many fees that we have to pay on a daily basis just to operate,” Reppart said. “It’s really important that they partner better with us as businesses.”

Reppart says she doesn’t have a corporate office to fall back on,  just herself.

“Local businesses don’t rely on big corporations,” she said. “We don’t have the scale to absorb every single fee they want to increase on us.”

Just down the road, the concerns sound familiar.

Tony Tagliaferro owns Island Italian .5, a family-run restaurant that’s been serving Padre Island for nearly four decades. He says he’s already received notice of the city’s proposed increases and doesn’t like how it’s calculated.

“It’s on a scale of how much you sell,” Tagliaferro said. “Everybody should pay the same because we’re getting the same service. I understand inflation, but these numbers are crazy.”

City documents show several permits and inspection fees would increase significantly if council approves the proposal.

Councilwoman Kaylynn Paxson says she plans to vote against it when it comes up for a vote in February.

“Increasing those costs was not a stipulation that we were required to do,” Paxson said. “We need to support our local businesses not make it more difficult for them.”

City staff say the changes are meant to align local fees with state guidelines, but business owners say just because the city can charge more doesn’t mean it should.

City Council is expected to take up the issue next month.