Naperville could apply food and beverage tax to drive-through-only chains, food trucks

Drive-through-only establishments have popped up in Naperville with caffeinated drink menus and social media buzz fueling long lines of cars.

The 7 Brew kiosk off Ogden Avenue is a more prominent example. Along Route 59, there’s a Scooter’s Coffee and a drive-through-focused Chick-fil-A in south Naperville. Dutch Bros Coffee is also seeking city approval for a drive-through shop just north of the Naper Boulevard entrance to the Market Meadows shopping center.

Despite their popularity, most of these establishments are not required to collect and remit Naperville’s food and beverage tax, according to a memo from the city finance department.

Only one of them remits the tax, city spokesperson Kelley Munch confirmed. It was determined that the tax applies there because of permanent outdoor seating.

Under a draft ordinance, the city would be “correcting that situation,” Mayor Scott Wehrli said. It would amend the city’s definition of a retail food facility to “establish clear and consistent application of the tax across the food and beverage industry,” the memo noted.

“It's certainly not fair, I think, to have brick-and-mortars that are not paying it just because they’re drive-through-only,” Councilman Patrick Kelly said. “So I think this is a needed update in that regard.”

Wehrli has also proposed imposing the tax on food trucks. He said he’s not necessarily talking about the trucks that roll into Naperville once and then leave town.

Rather, he referred to the food trucks that “set up shop here and literally run a restaurant out of a parking lot, either all summer or all year, and are directly competing with our brick-and-mortar restaurants.”

Wehrli said the optics are that food trucks “get a better deal than those restaurants or folks who actually invest and pay taxes, real estate taxes, into our community.”

Kelly said he’s open to the idea, though he raised concerns about the food “trucks that are in the middle.”

“I also don't want to see staff spending significant resources tracking down payments that might be difficult to ever get, or might generate far less revenue than expense out from the city to try to track it down,” he said.

Revenue generated by the 1% food and beverage tax goes toward the Special Events and Community Arts, or SECA, grant program. According to the memo, the revenue has grown over the years to support public safety pensions, social service grants, supplemental support for Naper Settlement and abating property taxes for debt service.

If approved, the changes could take effect Jan. 1, 2026.