COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Liberty Township trustees held a second public hearing Tuesday to discuss the possibility of enacting a “serve and protect charge” at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
Several people showed up to voice their concerns, and all agreed with the township that a fee to help pay for Fire and EMS services was necessary.
“The Liberty Township Fire Department was receiving basically zero funding for a substantial amount of runs being made each year, tying up resources that would typically serve the City of Powell residents and Liberty Township residents,” explained Rick Karr, Fiscal Officer for Liberty Township.
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium sits on over 500 acres of land and does not pay property taxes as a non-profit. For a Township government, property taxes are about the only way to generate revenue to cover its budget. Liberty Township has a budget of $23 million. Of that money, $15 million goes toward the Fire Department, which covers about 34,000 residents.
“Other zoos are in Ohio, are located in municipalities, so that provides them additional funding. Sources like payroll taxes and other access to other methods of taxation that a city has, and a township doesn’t have. All others have additional funding sources, payroll taxes, and other taxes and fees that they can levy and generate to supplement their fire and EMS service,” explained Karr.
Ohio House Bill 315 became law this year and paved the way for fees like this one. Townships are now allowed to assess an admission fee of up to $1 for entertainment venues that draw crowds of at least 2,000 people.
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium responded to NBC4’s request for comment with the following statement:
“The recently passed HB315 legislation was narrowly crafted to address large-scale entertainment venues, such as concert halls and theaters, that host major events requiring increased emergency services. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is a nonprofit conservation and education institution and does not meet the spirit or intent of this legislation.”
Liberty Township said they began talks with the zoo about compensation for the runs the Fire Department makes to the zoo, but those talks have stopped.
“We had some current conversations, dialogue, but then broke off, basically saying that they weren’t interested in making a proposal,” said Karr. “It costs us $3,415. Estimated per EMS run. We did over 87 EMS runs to the zoo in 2024. For example, though, on Sunday this week we did seven EMS runs to the zoo, five of which were within a three-hour time span,” added Karr.
Township Trustees were not initially going to vote on the issue at Tuesday’s meeting, but after public comment and discussion, they decided to vote. They discussed how much the fee would be, and eventually agreed on $1.
Chairwoman Shyra Eichhorn said they do not want to take advantage of the zoo or gouge the zoo in any way.
“They’ve been great to our fire department, which does train at their facility. And we want to continue to have that strong relationship with them. But we need to advocate for our residents. We need everyone to be paying their fair share for the services,” Eichhorn said after the meeting.
The law stipulates a 30-day period between passing the fee and its implementation. However, trustees voted for a 60-day period before implementation to give the zoo time to adjust signage and pricing, but also come back to the negotiation table. Right now, the $1 will go into effect on August 30, 2025.
