Saint Louis Zoo Asks For Sales Tax Support For New Expansion

ST. LOUIS, MO — Would you chip in an eighth of a cent to support the Saint Louis Zoo? You have until November to decide, because that's when the question will go before voters in St. Louis County. The proposed ballot measure would ask voters to approve a one-eighth of 1 percent sales tax hike, a penny for every $8 spent, and is expected to generate about $20 million per year. The money would help the Zoo build an off-site breeding center announced earlier this year.

The zoo announced plans in March for a 425-acre expansion that will include a private, off-site breeding facility as well as a public safari-like experience, possibly with zip lines, overnight camping and other attractions for visitors. The zoo raised more than $7 million dollars from two anonymous private donors to purchase the tract of land near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers in north St. Louis County.

"We have long desired an expanded land area to provide the best possible care for animals, especially a place where we can focus on conservation breeding efforts with endangered animals and those that are at risk," said Jeffrey Bonner, the zoo's CEO. "There are very few parcels of land in the metropolitan area that could meet this need... The property offers great terrain, perimeter fencing, utilities, lakes, good buffers surrounding and existing buildings."

Provided the sales tax passes, city and county residents would enjoy free admission to the expansion. Others would have to pay — how much isn't yet clear.

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Though Joseph Ambrose, president of the Saint Louis Zoo Association, stressed in March that no taxpayer dollars would be used to make the purchase, the zoo is now asking residents of St. Louis City and St. Louis County to consider raising sales taxes to support the new infrastructure as well as current facilities at Forest Park.

The expansion is expected to take about five year to complete. The Zoo's president and CEO, Jeffrey Bonner, told St. Louis Public Radio the idea was to create an "inside-out" zoo.

“I mean, imagine where you’re kind of constrained, and the animals are all the way around you," he said. "That’s a very, very different thing than what we have now. And in light of that, I think it’s fair to say that we’ll do a wonderful job of connecting people with living things. And that’s really our goal.”

But some critics have said the burden for funding the zoo falls disproportionately on city and county residents already.

Taking into account hundreds of community improvement and special business districts, sales tax is already over 12 percent in some parts of the city and county, and residents have been asked for more than a dozen tax hikes and fee increases over the past decade.

According to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan think tank, sales taxes disproportionately affect poor and working class Americans as well as communities of color, who may see up to a fifth of their income go to such taxes. Sales taxes further increase the divide between rich and poor and undercut economic growth, the study found.

But supporters, including County Executive Steve Stenger, say the zoo is well worth the cost. The Saint Louis Zoo is one of a handful of free zoos in the country and consistently ranks among the top zoos in the United States. In 2017, USA Today named it the best free attraction in America.

Photo: Nipper the sea lion kisses his handler at the Saint Louis Zoo (J. Ryne Danielson/Patch)