Stephanie Kooser, the owner of Screamin’ Bean Espresso in Puyallup, was taken aback when she went to pay her annual food permit fee for 2026.
“I was like, this has to be a mistake,” Kooser said.
The fee, collected by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department which inspects and permits food businesses including coffee shops, had jumped nearly $300 from the $368 she paid in 2025…