Photo by philliefan99.

Might you soon be paying a ten percent tax on your truck-procured pile of poutine? It sounds like a compromise between food trucks and restaurant owners including such a tax might be in the works.

Yesterday, representatives for the city’s growing food truck industry told the Council inside a packed room at the Wilson Building that they’d be fine with instituting a ten percent tax on their food. In exchange, however, they’d also want the city government to grant them the same status as brick-and-mortar restaurants. Ah, therein lies the rub! Basically, the brick-and-mortar restaurant industry is now faced with a decision: are they willing to extend the benefits they possess and trucks don’t — like not being forced to close up shop if there isn’t a line of customers — in exchange for the institution of a tax on the cheaper trucks product, which the restaurants have long said undercuts them financially? (Then again, if the compromise hinges on “the city specifies locations where [the trucks] can operate” as suggested, it might be a rather messy fight.)

Regardless of the politics involved, Councilmember Jack Evans wants to pass his Vendor Sales Tax Collection and Remittance Act soon — so stay tuned.