ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – You can add higher permitting fees to the list of challenges for small Albuquerque businesses like restaurants and food trucks.

The city just raised them for the first time in almost two decades, and business owners are feeling it right on their bottom line.

“We can’t run a business without the permit, or we get shut down and fined. So it’s like it’s kind of being bullied, in my opinion,”  said Michael Mondragon, owner of Mike’s Meats. 

Mighty Mike’s is a permanent weekend fixture at North Domingo Baca Park and the Rail yards. He never knows what type of challenges those weekends will hold.

“Owning a business in Albuquerque, it seems to be getting tougher as of late. There’s the new regulations, there’s new fees,” said Mondragon.

Like his permitting fee to keep his business in good standing with the city. 

“Last year, and all the years before, the fee was about $120, $150 bucks, give or take,” said Mondragon. 

This year, the fee increased to more than $900. 

“Something like this can fold a small business,” Mondragon said.

He shared his sticker shock with his 10,000 Instagram followers this week. At least two other small businesses told him they experienced the same thing. 

“Most people live paycheck by paycheck, we pretty much live sale by sale,” said Mondragon. 

The increase is thanks to a new city ordinance that went into effect Thursday, the Food Service and Retail Ordinance. 

Deputy Director of the Environmental Health Department, Mark Dimenna, says it’s a compilation of all existing food ordinances, aiming to make rules easier for business owners to understand.

“This affects anybody in the City of Albuquerque that holds a food permit of any kind, from hot dog carts, to restaurants to grocery stores, all the way up through the larger food production facility,” said Dimenna. “This does everything from actually creating the enforcement authority for us to actually inspect food facilities for us to issue permits, and any kind of enforcement that we have to do on permits.”

He says an internal audit found the city’s permitting fees were significantly too low.

“Yes, there’s a significant change there. But it’s also the first time, and in some cases 15 years, in many cases even longer than that some of these fees were set in the ‘80s,” Dimenna said. 

Dimenna explained mobile units, like Mighty Mike’s, will see the biggest increases. 

“The mobile unit fees in the old ordinance were contemplated based on 20 years ago’s version of a mobile unit, which is essentially like a hot dog cart, popcorn stand, ice cream cart, that kind of thing. The food truck industry obviously has sort of revolutionized since then it’s come a long way,” said Dimenna.

He says the extra money will go to the city’s General Fund. Then, it will be handed down to programs. His department will also get a new inspector to help with demand.

“It’s paying for the salaries for the inspectors, which like any city department, our personnel costs are highest, but it’s putting fuel in their vehicles, replacing vehicles as needed, replacing their computers,” said Dimenna. 

More costs at every level has owners like Mighty Mike’s asking their customers to help them stay afloat. 

“Every single sale matters. Every single customer matters,” said Mondragon.