Detroit Zoo Millage up for Renewal in Next Week’s Primary Election
Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties will vote whether or not to renew the Detroit Zoo’s millage next Tuesday.
The Detroit Zoo hopes voters will approve a millage renewal when casting their ballots in the August Primary election next week. Residents in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties will have to decide whether or not to continue the 0.1-mill property tax for another 10 years.
“Property taxes won’t increase from the current rate if the renewal is approved,” the spokesperson for the Detroit Zoo Patricia Janeway said. “For a home owner whose home is worth $200,000, the cost remains around $10 a year.”
Janeway said the millage goes towards enhancements that aren’t necessarily sexy, but are crucial.
“A lot of it goes towards energy efficiency upgrades, infrastructure improvements, animal habitat renovations, pathway and parking lot resurfacing, just things that we need for the maintenance and operation of the facility.”
The current millage generates around $11.4 million for the zoo annually, nearly a third of its $35 million operating costs. According to Janeway, the Detroit Zoo receives nearly 1.5 million visitors annually, nearly 500,000 more than the last time the millage was up for a vote. If the millage does not pass in the counties next Tuesday, Janeway said the Zoo will push for a millage renewal in the November General Election. Voters head to the polls for the Detroit Zoo millage renewal and other issues on the August Primary ballot on Tuesday.
