Wood County voters may soon be asked to show how much they love the Toledo Zoo.
An opinion poll is being conducted in Lucas County – the home of the zoo – to see if voters there would
like to share the burden of supporting the zoo through its tax levy.
"We are exploring different funding sources," said Zac Isaac, president of the board at the
Toledo Zoo. "We are just doing due diligence."
The zoo is located in Toledo, and has for years been funded in part by a tax levy in Lucas County. But
according to Isaac, the board is looking for a way to generate more revenue.
"We consider ourselves a regional zoo, not a Toledo zoo," he said.
The zoo board is also looking at other counties, such as Hancock, Defiance, Williams, Fulton and Lenawee,
as possible sources of future revenue.
Wood County, however, may have more potential since the percentage of zoo visitors from Wood County is
the same per capita as for Lucas County, Isaac said.
Isaac stressed Wednesday that no conclusions had been made about expanding the upcoming levy.
"No decisions have been made by the board," he said.
The board does plan to put a renewal of its 0.85-mill five-year levy on the ballot in November for Lucas
County. If the levy was expanded to Wood County, it would likely be countywide, not just cover a portion
of northern Wood County, Isaac said.
A representative of the zoo met last week with Wood County Commissioner Jim Carter to discuss the levy
possibility.
Wood County Administrator Andrew Kalmar said Wednesday that he is planning to ask the county prosecutor
if the zoo board would have to present its levy proposal to the board of county commissioners for
approval before it could appear on the ballot here.
Other entities in the county, such as the library district, Wood Lane and the health department, must get
approval from the commissioners prior to putting an issue before the county voters.
Kalmar said that while zoo polling in the past may have shown that a zoo levy would be well supported in
Wood County, the issue is complicated.
"I think it’s a difficult item, because, where will this end," he said. While
"regionalism" is a popular concept, Kalmar said the term doesn’t necessarily mean asking
voters in the region to support entities in other counties.
Isaac pointed out that while the zoo is funded by many private sources, it also relies on public tax
support for growing costs.
"Our expenses continue to rise," he said.
Lucas County residents do receive "perks" at the zoo, such as free Monday admission, special
"appreciation weekends" and visits by zoo representatives to schools.
"There are perks that we do give to Lucas County residents," Isaac said.
Those benefits would be extended to Wood County residents if the levy was expanded to this county as
well.
