Liberty Township officials are frustrated by a lawsuit filed by Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, saying they’ve offered multiple chances for “good faith discussions” to get the zoo to help pay the township for dozens of emergency fire and EMS runs to the 540-acre facility.
The township said that the zoo’s response has been equal to what it pays for those emergency runs: nothing. The zoo says it’s a tax-exempt entity, although it receives 20% of its income from Franklin County taxpayers and all of its employees are eligible for public pensions.
“The zoo declined to offer any meaningful proposals,” Cathy Buehrer, the township’s interim administrator, said in a news release Aug. 7, a day after the zoo sued the township.
The lawsuit contends the nonprofit zoo is exempt from Ohio House Bill 315, part of which allows townships to levy a surcharge of up to $1 on tickets to fund emergency services provided to entertainment venues not subject to paying property taxes, having more than 2,000 attendees, and ticket prices of at least $10.
Both the zoo and the township have praised one another. The township calls the zoo “the crown jewel of our community.” The zoo, in turn, said it has “the deepest respect and appreciation for first responders, including those from Liberty Township.”
Neither wants to offend the other. Both say that they are fighting for their constituents. The zoo has a 0.75-mill property tax renewal on the November ballot, while facing criticism for not being transparent and complying with state public records laws.
The township says it wants to be fiscally responsible, especially about tax levies paid by property owners that fund the township fire/EMS department, “ensuring that all large-scale operations within its borders help support the essential services they require.”
The zoo has declined to provide information about its ticket gate receipts and memberships needed to establish how much of a surcharge to enact in order to fairly compensate the fire department, the township says. The zoo has stated it had 1.8 million visitors last year.
Last year, there were 87 calls for emergency services at the zoo, each costing the township $3,400, according to the township.
Zoo CEO Tom Schmid has defended the zoo stance. “We have rightly earned our designation as a tax-exempt, not-for-profit institution, and it’s critical for us to preserve this designation,” he said.
The so-called Protect and Serve Charge would have taken effect Aug. 30, raising gate ticket prices by $1. The lawsuit filed by the zoo in Delaware County Common Pleas Court, seeks an injunction to stop the charge and a legal ruling clarifying that the Ohio law was intended for concert venues and not nonprofits like the zoo.
The zoo had $63 million in cash and investments in 2023, according to Rick Karr, township fiscal officer who reviewed the zoo’s Form 990, required of nonprofit entities. It paid out $381,385 in legal fees and $100,000 for lobbying.
The township said the figures “underscore the zoo’s capacity to contribute its fair share to the emergency services it relies upon, without shifting the property tax burden onto the city of Powell and Liberty Township taxpayers.”
Dean Narciso, who covers Columbus’ northern suburbs and Delaware County, can be reached at dnarciso@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Liberty Twp. responds to Columbus Zoo lawsuit: actions are ‘legal, measured and necessary’
Reporting by Dean Narciso, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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