DETROIT, Mich. — Detroit and Wayne County voters will decide Tuesday whether to keep paying a small property tax that helps run the Detroit Zoo along with its Belle Isle Nature Center.
The Wayne County proposal asks voters to renew the zoological authority levy for 10 years, from 2028 through 2037, at a total of 0.10 mill, or 10 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value. It would renew the current 0.0982 mill and bring back 0.0018 mill lost to a required rollback. County estimates put first-year collections in Wayne County at $6,145,462.
Matching renewals are on the ballots in Oakland and Macomb counties. Voters first approved the tax in 2008 and renewed it in 2016. Hayley Murphy, who leads the nonprofit Detroit Zoological Society as its CEO, has said the three-county levy should raise about $18.8 million in its first year and covers roughly one-third of the zoo’s operating costs.
The money supports care for more than 2,000 animals, education programs at the zoo and on Belle Isle, and two free days for seniors. The zoo, which sits in Royal Oak and Huntington Woods, turns 100 in 2028. A simple majority is needed to pass the Wayne County measure.
Section: More Detroit MI politics news
Filed under: Detroit MI Politics News
