Coin-Operated Machines Need Annual County Permits

A pinball table in the corner or a claw machine by the door is easy to overlook on a permit checklist, but in El Paso County every public establishment with coin-operated machines on the premises needs a permit for each machine, renewed yearly through the County Tax Office.

The permit doesn't just live in a file. Each individual machine has to have its permit affixed. The county defines taxable coin-operated machines broadly, then carves out a few exemptions, like certain vending machines and machines built strictly for children.

Laundromats, game rooms, bars, and stores all land in this net. The county application and current fee period sit with the Ascarate Tax Office, and the cleanest way to handle it is to permit each unit before it ever takes a coin — adding a machine mid-year and backfilling the paperwork is how an unpermitted one slips through.