LANSING — Ingham County voters will decide in the Aug. 4 election whether they want to renew the millages supporting Potter Park Zoo and Ingham County’s trails and parks system.
The county wants to renew the 0.496 mills now being levied separately for both purposes and restore each millage to the previously authorized 0.5 mills for six years.
The millages are based on $1,000 of taxable value, which is roughly half the fair market value of a home. Each ballot proposal would cost the owner of a home with a fair market value of $200,000 about $50 a year. Put another way, the owner of a home with a taxable value of $150,000 would pay about $75 a year on each if both measures pass.
If voters agree, each of the new levies would generate a little over $5 million in the first year.
What is the Potter Park Zoo millage?
Ingham County taxpayers have been supporting the zoo financially since it was transferred from the city of Lansing’s control two decades ago. The zoo millage was last renewed in March 2020, when it passed by an overwhelming margin.
The millage is used only for operating revenue and doesn’t pay for capital improvements, said Amy Morris-Hall, executive director of the Potter Park Zoological Society, the zoo’s nonprofit arm.
The millage provides 68% of the zoo’s operating budget, with the rest coming from things like admissions, concessions and the gift shop, she said. If the renewal doesn’t pass, the zoo would revert to the city’s control, and the city doesn’t have money budgeted for operating it, she said.
“I think the community very much values Potter Park Zoo, and one of the ways we’ve seen evidence of that is how the millage has passed historically. People love the zoo. I feel confident the people of Ingham County will continue to support the zoo.”
The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and is home to more than 300 animals. It drew more than 195,000 visitors last year, according to its 2025 annual report.
The millage renewal on the Aug. 4 ballot is for the years 2027 to 2032.
What is the countywide system of trails and parks millage?
Ingham County voters have supported the system of trails and parks with a millage since 2014. It was renewed in 2020, at the same time the zoo millage was renewed.
The millage is earmarked for creating, maintaining and expanding recreational trails and adjacent parks, including the Lansing River Trail and Americans with Disabilities improvements at parks and trials.
The renewal and restoration proposal on the Aug. 4 ballot would be for the years 2026 to 2031. Like the zoo millage, it would generate an estimated $5.1 million in revenue in the first year.
About $44 million for 116 projects has been awarded over the program’s 12-year run, including 29 new trail constructions, 36 bridge rehab projects and 14 parks rehab and improvement projects, officials said. It’s also paid for things such as ADA-compliant kayak and canoe launches and river bank stabiliation work.
Typically, individual communities apply for grants for projects that expand the countywide system of trails and parks or maintain infrastructure that’s already in place, officials said.
The program makes it possible for small communities to do projects they would never be able to pay for on their own, said Natalie Trotter, the trails and parks millage coordinator.
Eighteen projects have been approved for Round 8 of the program, pending the millage being renewed, Trotter said. Round 8 funding would first be available in 2028 and would total about $9.8 million, according to a document provided by the county.
Those projects include about $1.17 million for a Hayhoe Trail extension and trailhead in Vevay Township, a Red Cedar River clearing project in eastern Ingham County and a trail construction project in the city of Leslie, the document indicated.
Round 8 projects are on the drawing board through 2030.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Ingham County voters to decide on renewing zoo, trails and parks millages
Reporting by Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal | USA TODAY Network
