If Wood County voters passed a levy for the Toledo Zoo, many could actually save more money with free
visits to see the monkeys and the elephants than they would pay each year for the levy.
The possible 0.85-mill levy for the zoo would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $26 a year.
Meanwhile, passage of the levy would mean that Wood County residents could get into the zoo for free one
weekday each week. That means a family of two adults and two children would save $38 by not paying for
admission.
But zoo officials have two big hurdles to pass first. They must convince the Wood County Commissioners to
allow a non-county entity to put a levy on the ballot here. Then they must convince Wood County voters
to support the levy.
A poll conducted last May showed Wood County voters equally split on the possible levy – with one-third
supporting, one-third opposing and one-third undecided, according to Dr. Anne Baker, the zoo’s executive
director. Zoo officials believe that they may be able to convince those undecided voters to cast ballots
in favor of the levy.
The Toledo Zoo budget currently consists of 52 percent earned revenue (meaning admissions, memberships
and concessions), 30 percent levy funds from a 0.85-mill levy in Lucas County, and 18 percent from
contributions.
The decrease in property values in Lucas County has caused the levy revenue to drop from $7.6 million in
2007 to $6.7 million this year. Ohio’s elimination of the personal property tax has also caused the zoo
to lose close to $3 million in eight years, Baker said.
Though zoo officials could recoup some of those losses by increasing admission rates, Baker said the
board is reluctant to do that since higher prices could cause attendance to drop at the zoo. Admission
is currently $11 for adults and $8 for children and seniors.
"We really try to keep it affordable," said Andi Norman, director of marketing and public
relations for the zoo. Attendance at the zoo varies each year due to weather and other factors, but
averages 935,000. Membership averages 54,000 a year.
If Wood County voters passed the zoo levy, their support would be rewarded with the same perks that Lucas
County voters already receive:
¥ Free visits to the zoo one weekday each week. Visitors must enter between 10 a.m. and noon, and can
stay all day. Lucas County resident get free admission on Mondays, so it would not be that day.
¥ Free admission for Wood County schools making field trips to the zoo.
¥ Free outreach programs to Wood County schools, senior centers, libraries, hospitals or nursing homes.

Zoo officials are turning to Wood County residents for levy support because of the high percentage of
visitors from this county. According to the zip codes given by visitors as they enter the gates, 66
percent of Lucas County residents visited the zoo last year, followed by nearly 54 percent of Wood
County residents.
"We’ve always viewed the zoo as regional," Baker said. And zoo officials will soon be asking
the Wood County Commissioners to let them test that theory at the polls.
The levy, which could go on the ballot as early as November, would collect $1.4 million a year.
"Let us go to the public and see if they would support it," Baker said. "It gives the
voters a chance to decide."
According to Baker, the $125 million facility operates on a $22 million annual budget. The zoo has 160
full-time employees and about 700 volunteers. No staff has been added for the past five years, and as
employees leave the zoo, each position is evaluated, she said. Staff frequently suggest ways to cut
costs, and items no longer needed in one department are often recycled to other departments, she said.

The staff has worked hard to capture grant money to help support programs, she added.
"We have to operate in a fiscally responsible way," Baker said.
Meanwhile, the Toledo Zoo ranks very high among attractions in the region and brings many visitors to the
area each year.
"The zoo is a revenue generator of the area," Norman said.
And "it’s an important asset," that adds to the overall quality of life for the region,
explained Gary Smith, a member of the zoo board from Wood County. Smith is joined by four other Wood
County residents on the zoo board, including Barbara Steele, Chip Hambro, Jon Orser and Bill DeHoff.
Baker worries that if the zoo makes too many cuts, fewer people will want to visit, then revenue will
suffer more.
"I want to keep us out of that downward spiral," she said.
Norman shared those concerns.
"If we have to make more severe cuts, people will see that, and we don’t know if they will come
back," she said.