A Zoo is Not a Public Good

In Detroit and the surrounding areas, there is a ballot initiative to raise taxes in support of the Detroit Zoo.

Most political theory suggests that taxes should be levied on activities which are undesirable, or that they should be levied in the event that they provide a non-excludable good/service, or if they are used to offset so-called “public bads.” So, even if we leave Coaseian analysis out of the discussion, it’s not appropriate to raise taxes to support a zoo, quite simply because a zoo is perfectly excludable: if you don’t pay the entrance fee, you can’t go inside. Further complicating the issue is the fact that three counties are voting separately, and funds will be allocated separately. If the initiative doesn’t pass in one or more of the counties, the tax revenue will not be enough to meet the funding requirements.

The Detroit Zoo, which hosts over 1 million visitors, annually, needs an additional $10MM or so, which tells me (price elasticity aside) that the admission fee is about $10/per ticket underpriced. Currently, an adult admission is $11. Would $20 or more be too high? The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, which is like a zoo, charges almost $30 for a day pass, and it’s subsidized to some extent by Chicago taxpayers! I know that Shedd is underpriced because I was there recently, and many people were turned away from the Dolphin act, because there wasn’t enough seating to meet the demand.

A recent Zogby poll suggests that “71% of voters in Wayne County supported the millage. Oakland County — where the zoo is located, in Royal Oak — was close behind at 70%, and Macomb was at 65%”.  One wonders how many of these people voluntarily contributed money to the Zoological society over the past few years.

I’ve gone to the Detroit Zoo exactly one time since I was 10 years old. Now, I’m being told that I’ll probably have to pay about $10/year for a zoo that I’m not likely to visit anytime soon. Taxes like this are likely to pass, because the amount is small enough, and opposition is widely dispersed. But that doesn’t make it OK. Most people won’t go to the zoo, and shouldn’t have to pay for other people’s enjoyment.