How to Fill Out the Kane County Mobile Vending Application (Field by Field, 2026)

This walks the actual Kane County Health Department forms, field by field. For the city rules on top of them, start with the Aurora food truck permit guide: Aurora issues its own licence and wants a current certificate from each county you operate in. For the statewide picture, see how to start a food truck business in Illinois.

The health permit for a Kane County food truck comes from the Kane County Health Department, not from Aurora, Elgin or any other city. The paperwork is short: a two-page application whose back page holds the route sheet and the fee categories, and a one-page commissary letter signed by you and your commissary's owner. If you prepare open food on board, the county also wants your equipment layout before the unit is built.

Step 1 — Work out your category before you fill anything in

Your category sets the fee and whether a Certified Food Protection Manager must be on board, and the application asks for it near the top. The definitions are printed on page 2 of the form and on the county's Mobile Vendor Categories page:

A truck that cooks to order is Category II. A truck selling only sealed, pre-packaged items is Category III. Push carts have their own Kane rule sheet, which limits them to pre-cooked hot dogs, unshucked cooked corn, whole fresh fruit, canned beverages, condiments and pre-packaged non-potentially hazardous food. Cut fruit is not permitted on a cart.

Step 2 — Page 1 of the Application for Mobile Vending Unit

The form is titled 2026 Application for Mobile Vending Unit. Its footer reads Adopted 12/02, Reviewed 11/03, Revised 10/25. It has no fillable fields, so print it and fill it by hand or use a tool that writes onto flat PDFs.

Truck / Trailer / Pushcart (select one). One tick only. A pushcart is held to the push-cart rule sheet from Step 1.

Commissary, address, city, state, zip. The name and street address of the kitchen you work from. Copy them exactly as they appear on the Commissary Agreement Letter in Step 4.

Truck/Cart Number, Vehicle License, Year. Use your own unit number if you run more than one truck, and copy the plate and model year from the registration. The back page says the permit is not transferable to another person or mobile vending unit, so a replacement truck means a new application.

Name of Owner/Driver, with address, city, state, zip and phone. Then Company Name with its own address, city, state, zip, phone, fax and email. If you operate as an LLC, the company block is the LLC and the owner/driver block is you.

Permit to be mailed to: commissary or owner/driver. The form states that the permit is mailed to the owner/driver if you leave it unticked.

Food: Pre-packaged or Food preparation on vehicle, and Anticipated Months. The months matter: a unit operating less than six months a year qualifies for the seasonal fee.

Mobile Vending Unit Classification (see reverse) and Type of Permit: New or Renewal. Write II or III from Step 1.

Food Served and Food Source. Two lines each. List the menu, then where the food comes from: your commissary, and any supplier you buy from. Approved sources are a core check. For a commissary outside Kane County, the form wants a copy of a current inspection from a recognized health agency with the application.

Certified Food Protection Manager, Position, Identification Number, Expiration Date. Copy them from the certificate. Category II requires the manager to be there at all times. The CFPM certificate guide covers how to get one.

The checkbox block. It sits under a printed line in capitals: MECHANICAL REFRIGERATION REQUIRED. Then tick everything that applies:

• Food Protection: off-ground, sneeze shield, covered.
• Cooking Method: grill, steam table/electric, steam table/Sterno-gas, fryers, crock pot, or other (explain).
• Preparation Site: a written explanation of where food is prepared. On a truck that cooks on board, say so, and name the commissary for anything prepped there.
• Environmental Protection: tent, trailer, umbrella, indoors, pre-packaged, individually wrapped, in covered containers.
• Source of Water: public, private well, or transported.
• Handwashing: hand sink, dispensed soap, dispensed paper towels, a spigoted thermos with catch bucket, or Handi-wipes, which the form allows for pre-packaged foods only.
• Utensil Washing: extra utensils, 3-compartment sink, or 3 containers, then Sanitizer type and Waste Water Disposal Method.

The checkbox block was written to cover tents and carts as well as trucks, so read it against the truck rules in Step 5. A truck that prepares open food needs the hand sink, dispensed soap and towels, and a 3-compartment sink. The county's requirements say to show on the application where wastewater is disposed, which usually means your commissary.

Below the row of Xs is For Office Use Only (license number, issuance number, permit amount, category, approved by). Leave it blank.

Step 3 — Page 2: the route sheet, categories and signature

Route Sheet. A table with five columns: Time Arrive, Time Leave, Name of Company, Address and Town. Each row is a stop, and "Name of Company" means the business or event you are serving at. The heading says changes to the route must be submitted to the health department, so add the stops you know and send an update when a new one is booked.

Vendor Classifications. The Category II and III definitions and fees from Step 1, and two printed rules: the out-of-county commissary inspection, and applications for new annual mobile units submitted after July 1 pay half the appropriate fee. A new Category II truck applying in August pays $295.

Affirmation, date and signature. You affirm that the information is true to the best of your knowledge and belief, then sign and date. The line under it repeats that the permit is not transferable.

Step 4 — The Commissary Agreement Letter

A one-page letter, dated 4.2.2019 in the county's file name. You fill in your name and business, the commissary's name and address, and both phone numbers. The letter itself is a set of promises:

• you will make and store your food at the commissary and clean all utensils at this location;
• the commissary has a commercial kitchen and meets local, county and/or State of Illinois Food Code;
• you have included a copy of the commissary's last government agency inspection and a copy of your food permit for the current year.

Then four boxes to mark as complete and attached: commissary letter, last commissary inspection, completed Kane County food permit, payment attached/made. You sign and date it, and so does the commissary owner, so the letter does not go in without their signature. If you are still choosing a kitchen, what a commissary letter must include covers the general requirements.

Step 5 — The truck rules the reviewer checks your answers against

The county's Mobile Vending-Food Truck Requirements (revised 2/26) apply to units where open foods are prepared within the vehicle, not to units selling only pre-packaged food prepared at a commissary. Open food may not be prepared or served from the back of a pick-up truck. The unit operator must submit the equipment layout for approval before the unit is built. The fee schedule prints plan review fees for fixed food establishments but no mobile plan review line, so call (630) 444-3040 before you build to ask what the layout review costs.

• Equipment: commercial, NSF approved or equivalent.
• Water: hot and cold water under pressure, with enough hot water to set up the 3-compartment sink and still have hot water at the hand sink. The form's formula for sink volume is L x W x D x 3 / 231 = total gallons, using inches. A sink with 16 × 14 × 10-inch compartments is 6,720 cubic inches, or about 29 gallons. The potable inlet must be capped.
• Wastewater: the holding tank must hold fifty percent more wastewater than the potable water stored, and both tanks must be sufficient for one day's work. A 30-gallon fresh tank needs a 45-gallon waste tank.
• Handwashing: a separate hand sink with hot and cold running water, dispensed soap and paper towels, and a drain larger than the faucet inlet.
• Dishwashing: a 3-compartment sink with drainboards at both ends. Washing plates, glasses, cups and silverware by hand is prohibited, so use single-service tableware, with cups dispensed from tube dispensers.
• Refrigeration and cooking: potentially hazardous food at 41°F or below in mechanical refrigeration with a thermometer accurate to ±3°F; hot holding at 135°F or above; reheating to 165°F; a metal stem thermometer accurate to ±2°F; and approved exhaust ventilation over range tops and fryers.
• Construction: cleanable floors, walls and ceiling; screened, self-closing windows and doors; and the business name and business phone number displayed on the side of the unit.
• Restroom: one within 100 feet that employees and customers can use whenever the unit is parked in one location.
• Commissary: inspected and approved, with dry storage, refrigerated and frozen storage, NSF equipment, a wastewater disposal area (grease trap) and a servicing area to clean the unit.

The Food Handling Permit is issued when inspections are completed and the facilities are approved, and field inspections continue on a routine basis. The health inspection checklist covers the general items inspectors look at.

Step 6 — Paying and submitting

The county's fee page lists four ways to pay. Online or by phone (1-844-443-9821, jurisdiction code 2311) takes major credit cards with a convenience fee. Keep the payment confirmation number, because you email it with the application and paperwork to KaneFood@KaneCountyIL.gov. By mail, send the application and a check payable to Kane County Health Department to the Environmental Health Section, 1240 N. Highland Avenue, Suite 5, Aurora, IL 60506. In person, bring a check or cash (no cards) to Aurora (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) or Elgin, 2170 Point Blvd. (Tuesday), 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and 1:30–4:30 p.m.

The fees run from 1/1/2026 to 12/31/2026, are non-refundable, and get an inflation adjustment every January 1. Renewals paid after December 31 carry a 25% late fee, rising to 50% after January 31. The fee page's general food permit notes add that new annual applications received after October 1 pay 25% of the fee. The mobile form prints only the July 1 half-fee rule, so ask before you count on the October discount.

The five that actually get Kane County applications sent back

Each comes from a rule printed on the county's own forms or requirements.

1. A fixed spot on the route sheet. Mobile units cannot park in one location unless it is an event.
2. An out-of-county commissary with no inspection copy. The application and the commissary letter both ask for it.
3. A commissary letter without the owner's signature. It has a signature line for each side.
4. A wastewater tank that is too small. It must hold 50 percent more than the fresh tank.
5. The wrong category. Category II needs a food protection manager working at all times, and the fee follows the category.

The habits that keep the same details consistent across every form, starting with one master record of your business, are in how to fill out a vendor permit application faster.

Sources: Kane County Health Department — Environmental Health Permits and Fees (effective 1/1/2026) · 2026 Application for Mobile Vending Unit (rev. 10/25) · Mobile Vending-Food Truck Requirements (rev. 2/26) · Commissary Agreement Letter · Push Carts requirements · Mobile Vendor Categories. Environmental Health: 1240 N. Highland Ave., Suite 5, Aurora, (630) 444-3040. Verified 6 November 2026.