Posted November 15, 200519 yr From the 11/13/05 Toledo Blade. PHOTO: Elephants Renee and Louie would live in a larger facility under the Toledo Zoo's proposed 10-year master plan that calls for expanding the home for the pachyderms. ( THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH ) Zoo's master plan envisions new taxes to promote growth $109M needed to expand facilities By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER In the next decade, the Toledo Zoo would like to build the best aquarium between Chicago's Shedd and the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky. It wants to make room for more elephants. In hopes of making baby rhinos, it would provide more generous quarters for frisky rhinoceroses. And children would find a special place at a proposed Children's Zone to replace the children's zoo. Those are just some of the ideas laid out in a $109 million, 10-year master plan that the zoo's board of directors will consider at their meeting tomorrow. The master plan includes elements designed to increase zoo attendance, such as a combined aquarium/education center. It addresses more mundane needs as well - parking, a better phone system, and an alternative energy generation system to help stabilize power costs. It also covers such nuts-and-bolts requirements as paying off debt from previous construction projects and the regular maintenance of a $100 million institution with 70-year-old buildings. The fate of the ambitious plan depends on voters. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051113/NEWS38/511130330/-1/NEWS
November 18, 200519 yr From the 11/15/05 Toledo Blade: Two Toledo Zoo tax issues set for May ballot By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER The Toledo Zoo may seek four tax levies in three years. The zoo's board yesterday decided to place a 1-mill, 10-year capital-improvement levy on the May ballot. That tax will pay for the first phase of the zoo's 10-year master plan, which includes more space for rhinos, elephants, and children. Also approved for the May ballot was a 0.85-mill, 5-year operating levy to replace a 0.7-mill operating levy. But the centerpiece of the zoo's master plan, a $44 million aquarium, won't be part of the package. The board intends to wait until 2008 to ask for an additional capital levy, which could be as small as 0.15 mills. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051115/NEWS38/511150412/-1/NEWS
December 15, 200519 yr From the 12/9/05 Toledo Blade: TOLEDO ZOO Officials pitch levies to panel of residents Group will advise commissioners Toledo Zoo officials hope to persuade thousands of Lucas County voters to approve two property tax levies in May, starting with a panel of nine residents who serve on the Citizens Tax Levy Review Committee. The nine-member committee met yesterday to gather information about the zoo's request and to ask preliminary questions of zoo officials. The meeting was the first for the committee, which was formed by Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken to review all tax requests the commissioners are asked to put on the ballot. The zoo is requesting a 1-mill, 10-year capital levy to replace a levy that expires this month and a 0.85-mill, 5-year operating levy to replace a 0.7-mill levy that is to expire in 2007. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051209/NEWS17/512090456/-1/NEWS
December 27, 200519 yr From the 12/20/05 Toledo Blade: Weather adds to deep chill in zoo budget By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER Weather continues to ravage the Toledo Zoo's bottom line. While record high temperatures this summer pushed zoo attendance - and the institution's bottom line - into the doldrums, now it's icy cold that's keeping people from visiting the Lights Before Christmas display, the zoo's board of directors was told last night. "Through Sunday, we should have had 112,000 people. We have had only 66,000," said Allison Duncan, the zoo's finance director. For the zoo to meet its revenue estimates for Lights, 45,000 people would have to walk through zoo gates in the last nine days of the exhibit, which ends Dec. 31. Poor attendance is just one of many budget woes the zoo is combating, making the passage of an 0.85-mill, five-year operating levy and a 1-mill, 10-year capital-improvement levy next year essential to the zoo's survival, officials said. The zoo has taken a number of actions to keep its head above water. Among them: ● Zoo admission charges will increase $1 beginning March 1 to $10 for adults and $7 for children. ● The zoo reduced its part-time seasonal help by calling in fewer workers this summer whenever high temperatures were predicted. Even with those cuts and cost-savings measures, zoo revenues are about $844,000 behind expenses. The zoo had a $1.5 million surplus in 2004, which means it will still be able to pay all its bills this year and, because of the many cuts it is making, still squeak by in 2006, zoo officials said. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051220/NEWS38/512200401/-1/NEWS
January 21, 200619 yr From the 1/13/06 Toledo Blade: Officials describe need for zoo taxes Review board hears arguments for levies Erika Blake and JENNI LAIDMAN Toledo Zoo officials told citizens’ tax review committee again yesterday that animal exhibits would be closed and staff laid off if voters do not support proposed levies in May. And, in a separate meeting, the zoo board of directors said it would select a new executive director within two weeks. Although the nine-member Lucas county tax Levy Review Committee said it is convinced the zoo needs tax funds to continue operating, it hesitated to give blanket support of the levies. Instead, members asked tough issues such as diversity and accountability during a more than two-hour meeting. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/NEWS38/60113013/-1/NEWS
February 1, 200619 yr From the 1/25/06 Toledo Blade: Zoo leaders sell panel on the need for two levies Commissioners will have final say After a month of answering tough questions about such issues as diversity and accountability, Toledo Zoo officials finally convinced a citizens committee yesterday they need more financial support from voters. But their sales pitch is far from over. Members of the recently formed Lucas County Citizens Tax Levy Review Committee unanimously supported the recommendation that county commissioners put two zoo levies before voters. The recommendation ends a month-long process during which committee members questioned zoo officials about the need for both a five-year, 0.85-mill operating levy and a 10-year, 1-mill capital levy. Now the decision to put the issues on the May 2 ballot goes to the county commissioners. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060125/NEWS38/601250395/-1/NEWS From the 1/27/06 Toledo Blade: Ex-zoo vet's sister named to panel New watchdog group to review data surrounding upcoming levies By TAD VEZNER BLADE STAFF WRITER A newly formed group demanding more details of efforts to fix problems at the Toledo Zoo has appointed the sister of the zoo's former veterinarian as one of its spokesmen. Debra Reichard Klein, the sister of Dr. Tim Reichard, who was fired in February as the zoo's chief veterinarian, is a spokesman of Citizens for a Responsible Zoo, a group of about 10 local citizens and zoo volunteers formed in December. Dr. Reichard's firing triggered a controversy that, in turn, sparked the creation of a Lucas County task force to examine zoo operations. The task force issued a report in July with 123 recommendations for change. In October, zoo officials told the county they were enacting 115 of those recommendations. Most were still in the works. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060127/NEWS38/601270342/-1/NEWS
February 16, 200619 yr From the 2/15/06 Toledo Blade: Two zoo levies to go before the voters on May 2 $100,000 home's tab for year put at $56.65 By ERICA BLAKE BLADE STAFF WRITER After a barrage of questions and recommendations from citizen review committees, future funding for the Toledo Zoo will now be left to the voters. Lucas County commissioners approved putting two tax levies on the May 2 ballot. The zoo is asking for both a five-year, 0.85-mill operating levy and a 10-year, 1-mill capital improvements levy. If both are approved, the taxes will cost the owner of a $100,000 home a total $56.65 annually: $30.62 a year for the capital levy and $26.03 for the operating levy. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060215/NEWS38/602150427/-1/RSS
April 6, 200619 yr From the 4/4/06 Toledo Blade: PHOTO: Louie is on levy signs. Zoo leaders concerned about May ballot issues Elephants would go if levy is defeated By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER Toledo Zoo tax issues pass by big margins. That's the history. But there's one thing different about this year's zoo tax issues. They're on the ballot in a primary election when few people bother to vote. "We've never done it in a primary before,'' said Nancy Foley, who's run all nine of the zoo's previous successful levy campaigns. "Turnout is so low. That's what's making us nervous.'' "The biggest single threat to our levy is voter apathy,'' said Stephen Staelin, zoo board president. "We know they love the zoo. That's what they tell us. But if they don't vote …" The zoo has two tax issues on the May 2 ballot. Issue 3 is a 1-mill, 10-year capital improvement levy and Issue 4 is a 0.85, five-year, operating levy. The capital levy will cost the owner of a $100,000 home, $30.62 a year, an increase of $12.46 over the current zoo capital levy. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060404/NEWS38/604040399/-1/RSS
April 15, 200619 yr From the 4/14/06 Toledo Blade: Zoo director tries to foster change When Anne Baker became executive director of the Toledo Zoo, she knew she brought something to the position that no one on staff could match: the objectivity of an outsider. Ms. Baker, a PhD zoologist, took the post of zoo executive at the beginning of April. Not even a year has passed since the zoo was roiled by controversy. Trouble began with the unpopular decision to fire the zoo’s chief veterinarian, Dr. Timothy Reichard. That firing eventually led to the sudden retirement of the zoo’s longtime executive director and the appointment of a task force to investigate zoo operations. While the zoo has accepted some 90 percent of the recommendations made by that task force, not all have been implemented. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060414/NEWS38/60414057/-1/RSS
April 22, 200619 yr From the 4/22/06 Toledo Blade: Painful cuts could result from failure of zoo levies By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER It will be time for painful decisions at the Toledo Zoo if either of its two levies fails at the polls May 2. But if the issues pass, zoo officials say, it won't mean free spending or rapid growth. Passage "means that we don't have to make any major deletions of staff or programs,'' said Anne Baker, the zoo's executive director. "We're still going to have to do belt-tightening. We just need to do that to be fiscally responsible.'' On the ballot is an 0.85-mill, five-year operating levy, which helps pay salaries and feeds animals. The other is a 1-mill, 10-year capital improvement levy that will pay for repairs to the antiquated aquarium, eliminate $17 million in debt acquired under the zoo's previous management, and initiate a pay-as-you-go system that will prevent future debt. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060422/NEWS09/604220336/-1/NEWS
April 25, 200619 yr From the 4/25/06 Toledo Blade: THE BLADE POLL Support mixed for zoo's dual levy issues Public looks divided over capital funding By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER The Toledo Zoo's 1-mill, 5-year operating levy should pass handily on May 2, but the fate of the zoo's 10-year capital levy is too close to call, according to a Blade-Zogby International poll. In a survey of 804 likely voters, 60.2 percent said they would vote for the tax that helps pay for the zoo's day-to-day operations. But the fate of a 0.85-mill capital levy was less clear. Polling showed 48.9 percent of respondents in favor of its passage and 43 percent opposed. Because of a plus-or-minus 3.5 percent margin of error, no prediction is possible, said pollster John Zogby. The Zogby poll confirmed that Lucas County residents do love their zoo. Some 63 percent of respondents said they viewed the zoo "very favorably." Another 17.9 percent viewed the zoo "somewhat favorably." Seven percent rated the zoo "somewhat unfavorably," and 7.9 gave a "very unfavorable" grade. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060425/NEWS38/604250360/-1/NEWS
April 30, 200619 yr From the 4/30/06 Toledo Blade: Zoo seeks levies for upgrades, operations Toledo Zoo officials say they need voters to approve both tax issues on Tuesday's ballot if the zoo is to maintain its financial health. The zoo has an 0.85-mill, 5-year operating levy and a 1-mill, 10-year capital-improvements levy before the voters. "The biggest single threat to our levy is voter apathy. We know they love the zoo. That's what they tell us. But if they don't vote,…" said Stephen Staelin, zoo board president. The operating levy is essential to meet the zoo's day-to-day needs. Projects funded by the capital levy will help take pressure off the zoo's operating budget too. It will pay for improved aquarium equipment to cut utility costs. It will allow an added parking lot, saving $65,000 in shuttling visitors from a distant lot on overflow days. It will wipe out a $13 million debt. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060430/NEWS09/604300335/-1/NEWS
May 5, 200619 yr From the 5/4/06 Toledo Blade: PHOTO: Voters' rejection of the capital improvements levy on Tuesday means cancellation - at least for now - of a plan to enlarge the elephant area, home to Renee and son Louie, above. ( THE BLADE ) ELECTION 2006 Zoo likely to try again on failed levy, eyes cuts By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER The Toledo Zoo probably will ask voters to reconsider a capital improvement levy in November, but planning is under way to face what could be a rocky future if the second run at the issue fails, zoo officials said yesterday. A 1-mill, 10-year capital levy was narrowly rejected by voters Tuesday. An 0.85-mill, five-year operating levy passed handily, but the passage of just one levy is not enough to secure the zoo's future, Executive Director Anne Baker said. "I'm fairly certain we'll go back out in November," Ms. Baker said. "I'm not ready - I don't think the board is ready - to throw in the towel," she said. Failure to secure a capital improvement levy would guarantee program cuts and exhibit closings in 2007, she said. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/NEWS09/605040500/-1/NEWS
May 9, 200619 yr From the 5/9/06 Toledo Blade: Low central-city turnout hurt zoo levy 'New' label also a factor, experts say By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER Failure to bring out the central-city vote may have contributed to the defeat of the Toledo Zoo's 1-mill capital improvement levy. Low voter turnout in minority neighborhoods, where levies generally are favored by a large percentage of the voting public, may have cost the zoo enough votes that would have pushed the issue over the top. Also eroding support was the fact that the 10-year tax issue was on the ballot as a "new" tax. The capital improvement issue was to pay off debt, build better elephant facilities, and pay for maintenance at the aquarium. A 0.85-mill, five-year operating levy was approved by voters May 2. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/NEWS09/605090428/-1/NEWS
May 16, 200619 yr From the 5/16/06 Toledo Blade: 1-mill, 10-year capital levy for Toledo Zoo is back on ballot Amid the exotic sights at the Toledo Zoo, visitors this summer may catch a glimpse of the local taxation ecosystem as the zoo gears up for another levy campaign. The zoo's board of directors voted unanimously yesterday to return to the ballot in November with a 1-mill, 10-year capital improvement levy. The issue was defeated in the May primary. An 0.85-mill operating levy was approved. Board members say the zoo needs to "pull out all the stops" in this campaign. That means zoo visitors can expect a little tax education. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060516/NEWS38/605160422/-1/NEWS
June 20, 200618 yr From the 6/20/06 Toledo Blade: Zoo board approves $225,000 for levy try Officials hope donors will help fund effort It could cost the Toledo Zoo nearly a quarter-million dollars to campaign for a 1-mill, 10-year capital improvement levy proposed for the November ballot. A similar measure was defeated in May. The zoo board approved spending $225,000 on the campaign yesterday. But zoo officials hope donors will pick up at least part of the tab, said Anne Baker, the zoo's executive director. "What we don't bring in [in donations] will come out of the board's operating budget,'' she said. The issue would bring the zoo a projected $8.6 million year. It will pay for pay for repairs to the aquarium's antiquated equipment, bigger elephant and hippo enclosures, a new "children's zone," and pay off $13 million in debt. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060620/NEWS38/606200383/-1/NEWS
July 20, 200618 yr From the 7/20/06 Toledo Blade: Levy committee OKs zoo issue for November ballot Children services reserve fund questioned By ERICA BLAKE BLADE STAFF WRITER The committee charged with reviewing the merits of proposed tax levies yesterday gave its support to a 1-mill capital improvement levy for the Toledo Zoo - though not unanimously. Danielle Singler, a financial adviser for Savage & Associates, voted against a recommendation by the Lucas County Citizens Tax Levy Review Committee that the county commissioners put the levy on the ballot. The levy mirrors the one narrowly defeated by voters in May. The zoo's 10-year, 1-mill capital improvement levy request would raise $8.6 million a year and cost homeowners $30.62 annually on a $100,000 home. A 0.85-mill operating levy for the zoo was approved in May. The proposed 1-mill levy would take the place of a capital improvement levy that expired in December, 2005. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060720/NEWS38/607200434/-1/RSS
September 23, 200618 yr From the 9/21/06 Toledo Blade: Zoo kicks off campaign for 1-mill, 10-year levy The Toledo Zoo yesterday kicked off its campaign to win voter approval of a 1-mill, 10-year levy that will appear on the Nov. 7 general election ballot. Passage of the levy would enable the zoo to preserve and maintain its current facilities and exhibits while continuing to meet standards for animal care, officials said. The proposed levy would take the place of a capital improvement levy that expired in December, 2005. If approved, the capital levy would raise $8.6 million a year and cost $30.62 for a $100,000 home. The kickoff occurred in front of the zoo’s aquarium building, one of the structures slated for updates. The levy also would help fund more space for the zoo’s elephants and rhinos, as well as pay for a new Children’s Zone. It would pay for more parking, five temporary exhibits, nearly $17 million in debt relief, and $10 million for basic maintenance. At the kickoff event, officials unveiled the artwork for the levy campaign yard sign, which features the zoo’s hippo logo. Community leaders and local officials were on hand yesterday to rally support. MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060921/NEWS38/60921007/-1/NEWS
November 28, 200618 yr From the 11/8/06 Toledo Blade: LUCAS COUNTY BALLOT ISSUES Voters support zoo's 2nd levy try By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER COSI Toledo's levy request was too close to call early today, but it appeared the Toledo Zoo elephants are going to get a little breathing room with the projected victory of the zoo's second bid to pass a capital improvement levy. "We're happy with the way it looks thus far,'' said Anne Baker, the zoo's executive director, late last night with a substantial portion of Lucas County votes remaining to be counted. "I'll be happier when 100 percent of the vote is in.'' MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061108/NEWS09/611080477/-1/NEWS
November 28, 200618 yr You forgot to add "Toledo" under the "Unsexy" column. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 1, 200618 yr You forgot to add "Toledo" under the "Unsexy" column. You forgot that the Blade actually likes their hometown unlike some other newspapers in the state... You also forget the Blade has no choice as Toledo needs all the help it can get. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 2, 200618 yr You forgot that the Blade actually likes their hometown unlike some other newspapers in the state... Yes...you're right...Toledo has worked very hard at this and should be given its due credit :roll:
December 2, 200618 yr And if we say "Ohio," we mean "North of the Maumee," correct? :) "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 7, 200618 yr ^ hardeehar, also note here he's claiming ohio, yet other days it's michigan. toledoans...ya can't trust'em for ohio loyalty - lol!
April 23, 200718 yr Link contains a photo. From the 1/30/07 Blade: * GRAPHIC: Zoo priority projects MASTER PLAN Toledo Zoo ready to roar with projects Levy win fuels jump start on 9 of 13 initiatives in '07 By JENNI LAIDMAN BLADE STAFF WRITER More than half the projects on the Toledo Zoo's updated 10-year master plan list will get under way this year. Elephants, rhinos, hippos, butterflies, and little humans are all poised at the starting gate now that the zoo knows it will be taking in $8.6 million a year in revenues from the 10-year capital improvement levy voters approved in November. While 9 of 13 projects officially "begin" this year, what that really means is design phase work will get under way for projects as exciting as a new children's zoo and as mundane - but equally important to visitors - as new parking lots. 2007 PLANS While they may not see completion in 2007, some of the projects set to get under way this year include: • Butterfly house opening • Elephant space creation and expansion • Rhino exhibit improvements • New children’s zoo design • New parking lot designs • Boiler replacements and basic repairs MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070130/NEWS38/701300352/-1/NEWS
September 7, 200717 yr Zoo plans $7.5M space where kids can go ape All-weather facility will include multitude of hands-on activities BY JENNI LAIDMAN | TOLEDO BLADE September 7, 2007 IMAGE: The Toledo Zoo’s children’s zone will be built between the museum building, the reptile house, and the Carnivore Cafe, encompassing outdoor space, as in this artist’s rendering, and indoor areas. Provided TOLEDO - It wasn’t that long ago when most children had a favorite climbing tree, a stream to splash in, and a good place to hunt for turtles. As early as May, 2009, the Toledo Zoo plans to provide children all of the above, with the creation of a new $7.5 million kids area at the zoo. The project may be built in two phases, with the $2 million second phase constructed only as donations are made to complete construction. Groundbreaking for the first $5.5 million phase will take place in February. That portion will be paid for through the 1-mill, 10-year capital improvement levy Lucas County voters approved in November. “We’re not going to spend more money than we had allocated for this particular project unless additional funds are available,” said George Oravecz, chairman of the zoo board’s master plan committee, which reviewed the children’s zoo plan yesterday. The children’s zone will be built in the space between the zoo museum building, the reptile house, and the Carnivore Cafe. It will include both outdoor space, and indoor, all-weather areas.
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