Doughboy Pizza Tas, a local icon food truck in Kingborough, has requested Kingborough Council to review the $1190 registration it wishes to levy on food trucks; 477% higher than the same levy from Huon Valley Council.
The council has responded with threats to punish the people who operate Doughboy Pizza Tas. 
We believe that this fee is a tax and not a fee for service as no services are provided. Mobile food businesses already pay an annual registration fee to Kingborough Council and for that they receive a one-time inspection ‘service’. For Doughboy that was in 2018. 

We believe a more proportional charge, pro-rata for days of trade must be considered by council or Kingborough and The Channel will become a Food Truck ghost town.

Here is the letter to Kingborough Council Executive Officer Anthony Verdouw which seeks both to describe the importance of Doughboy as a community enterprise and offering several alternatives to the council instead of taxing community leaders doing community-minded work.

Anthony Verdouw, Executive Officer
Scott Basham, Manager, Legal and Property.

Dear Mr Basham, Mr Verdouw,
We write to you in response to correspondence received 28/02/2025, ref 40.120 “Doughboy Pizza - Mobile Food Business - Compliance Letter”.
The parties who contribute to the operation of the enterprise known as Doughboy Pizza wish to draw your 
attention to the following:
Doughboy Pizza has operated in locations in Kingborough’s Lower Channel since 2018 and is an enterprise whose primary goal is the provision of quality food service to local residents. Combined with occasional musical 
contributions from customers who, in a unique arrangement, trade performance for pizza, the Doughboy Pizza experience is far more than a Food Truck.

Doughboy Pizza are aware and supportive of the vision behind Kingborough Council’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2024-2029 and have consistently contributed to the provision of authentic wood-fired pizza in the traditional way, using fresh local produce (again, traded for pizza) and encouraging a healthy, family-first dining area when trading. In this way we are an active contributor to the council’s vision, particularly “…provision of 
healthy, safe and inclusive places and spaces” [https://www.kingborough.tas.gov.au/wp
content/uploads/2024/09/Kingborough-Health-and-Wellbeing-Strategy-2024-2029-1.pdf page 2].
Doughboy Pizza is currently operated by local professionals in their spare time. Profit is not the primary driver 
for this enterprise and year on year any retained earnings are returned to the improvement of the service; 
upgraded tools, signage and food processing equipment. This commitment to continuous improvement has resulted in the development of a fast, consistent and reliable provision of easy Friday night dinners for busy local families for many years.
Doughboy Pizza informally introduces and trains young people in high-standard food service, hospitality 
operations, stock management, customer and digital services. Doughboy’s founder and principal, Lachlan McKenzie, a local engineer, brings over two decades of high-end food service experience to bear and the current team have added a combined further decade of experience since 2022. No fewer than 12 young people have developed skills with Doughboy Pizza, and several have continued to formal training in hospitality since 2018.

Roads and Parking By-Law No. 4 2021
Doughboy Pizza recognises the particulars of this council resolution and acknowledges its currency and validity as an instrument under Local Government Act 1993 (Tas). Doughboy Pizza generally agrees with the objects contained in the By-Law and is motivated to adhere to the requirements of the document in the interest of community and the continuity of peaceful, clean and healthy spaces in and around Council properties. 
Doughboy further acknowledges consent to comply with requirements to be ‘authorised by a permit’ 
[https://www.kingborough.tas.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Roads-and-Parking-By-Law-By-Law
No.-4-of-2021-Signed-original.pdf section 25, page 11] in order to comply with this By-Law.

Dispute.

Doughboy Pizza hereby formally notifies Kingborough Council that we do not accept the fee of $1190 
[(6) Engineering Fees / Food Trucks and Related Services 150) Full Year Permit] 
[https://www.kingborough.tas.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Fees-Charges-2024-25.pdf as being 
fair and reasonable as a Fee for Service pertaining to the cost incurred by Council for the regulation of roadside 
food vendors.
Local government fees in Australia are generally expected to reflect cost recovery rather than serve as a broad 
revenue-raising tool. Local Government Act 1993 (TAS) outlines councils’ powers to impose fees, but they must 
generally be reasonable and proportionate to the costs incurred.
Doughboy Pizza maintains that the fee imposed is unreasonable and disproportionate.
1) Double Charging Without Direct Service
Where the Council’s REGISTRATION OF A MOBILE FOOD BUSINESS mechanism can reasonably be considered a 
fee for service, (e.g., health inspections, licensing), then the Roadside Trading Permit appears to be a separate, 
additional charge without a clear service exchange. Unlike a stallholder fee at an event (which generally covers
site access, waste disposal, etc.), this roadside trading permit does not provide extra infrastructure, maintenance, or oversight.

2) Potentially a Revenue-Raising Mechanism

The fee significantly exceeds the cost of regulating roadside food vendors, and it may function as a revenue-
raising mechanism rather than a true cost-recovery fee. If Council justifies the fee on grounds such as “public 
space use,” it raises questions about why other businesses using public footpaths (e.g., pedestrians visiting a 
brick-and-mortar café) are not similarly charged.

3) Barrier to Business and Competition and at odds with Council’s stated vision of “…provision of healthy, safe and inclusive places and spaces”

This unreasonably high roadside trading permit fee acts as a barrier to entry for mobile food vendors in 
Kingborough, disadvantaging them against permanent food establishments. This raises competition and 
inclusivity concerns, as it may favour conventional, fixed-location businesses over mobile vendors without a 
strong policy justification.

4) Disproportionate and Unreasonable by comparison

The Local Government Act 1993 (TAS) outlines councils’ powers to impose fees, but they must generally be 
reasonable and proportionate to the costs incurred. Further, this fee is 477% higher than that of the nearest 
municipality (Houn Valley Council; $206 [https://ablis.business.gov.au/service/tas/roadside-vendor-permit
huon-valley-council/8416])

5) A Tax disguised as a Fee for Service

Under Australian constitutional principles, local governments cannot impose a tax disguised as a fee unless 
authorized by legislation. If no specific service or infrastructure is provided in exchange for the fee, it might 
legally constitute a tax rather than a fee for service. Local councils generally do not have the power to impose 
new taxes unless specifically authorized by state legislation. If challenged in a legal or administrative forum, 
Kingborough Council might be required to justify the permit as a cost-recovery fee rather than an implicit tax.

Proposal

In a situation where Kingborough Council remained adamant that the $1190 fee represented a fee for service:

1) Where any organisation conducting food truck operations on council land, and where not otherwise 
prevented from doing so, succeeded in operating for 365 days per year then the fee might be considered 
proportionate.
2) In such cases, a daily pro-rata equates to approximately $3.30
3) In the case of Doughboy Pizza, whose limited operational capacity is 12-16 days per year, potentially 
increasing to 20 days per year in 2025/26 fiscal year a total fee for any fiscal year of $66.00 would be 
similarly considered proportionate
In the current scenario, where Doughboy Pizza is providing services to the community in cooperation with 
Kettering Cricket Club, our organisation would like to invite Kingborough Council to invest in the opportunity to 
demonstrate leadership in its capacity as advocate by:
1) Offering all food trucks wishing to trade ad-hoc or for a limited and known number of occasions on 
Council properties a fair and proportionate daily pro-rata fee and
2) Promote the availability of food trucks in the municipality as 
a. a community benefit
b. a tourist attraction
c. an opportunity to create permanent or semi-permanent precincts for food trucks (like the 
Kettering Cricket Club, gravel hard stand / turning circle)
3) Provide improved waste management in such locations
4) Provide improved lighting in such locations, enabling winter trading.

Status Quo
Doughboy Pizza, through this letter, has acknowledged council’s comments and request to be permitted to trade. 
Doughboy Pizza has clearly outlined our protest at the council’s fees with clear and demonstrable rationale, 
provided alternatives and suggestions and opportunity for council to act according to its stated vision. We 
anticipate that Council will take these statements and requests in the good faith in which they are offered and 
provide Doughboy Pizza opportunity to continue providing the service we have done for 8 years. 
While council considers these items, we request that no adverse action be imposed, and that Council continue 
this dialogue with our organisation.

 

Response from Executive Officer Anthony Verdouw:

 

I reiterate that Kingborough has a Food Truck Policy endorsed by Council which provides a clear permit process and permit conditions for food truck trading on roads or Council land. This policy and any associated fees are not subject to negotiation.

 

Additionally, undertaking food services on land not subject to the food truck policy requires a LUPAA permit in accordance with 8.4.1 of the Kingborough Interim Planning Scheme 2015.

 

Mr Basham has provided all the relevant information in his 27 February 2025 correspondence and as advised on review of Council business documents a current By-law or LUPAA permit has not been located for your recent mobile vending.

 

If Doughboy Pizza is found to be undertaking unpermitted food business activities Council will take action as appropriate, which may include punitive fines and cancellation of any certificate of registration.

 

If you believe Council’s annual Food Truck Permit fee is not viable for your business, I suggest considering a 3-month or 6-month food truck permit option and trading within a specific 3 or 6 month window. We are happy to discuss the above-mentioned permit options available to try make this work for your business. 

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We at Doughboy Pizza Tas support the council’s policies but not the unreasonable fees. 

We do not agree to be taxed or punished for provision of a clear community benefit.

Support us to help Kingborough Council see that this fee is a tax, may be unlawful and is levied at the cost of community engagement and activation of spaces. 

Kingborough has few to no food trucks and this is reason why. There won’t be any Doughboy pop-ups in Kingborough while this threat of punishment or taxation remains over us.