On Tuesday, Liberty Township's Board of Trustees voted on a resolution to establish a 鈥淧rotect and Serve Charge鈥� that would add a $1 fee to the price of Columbus Zoo tickets. The increase will go into effect on Aug. 30.
Last year, Liberty Township provided almost $300,000 in fire and EMS services to the zoo for free. Normally, businesses would use property taxes to pay the township for these services, but the zoo is exempt from paying property tax and pays sales tax to Franklin County.
The trustees voted unanimously for the resolution, although they're still interested in negotiating with the zoo. Before the extra charge goes into effect, the trustees want to see if they can find another way for the zoo to pay Liberty Township first responders for their services.
鈥淚've been very consistent in saying we're not trying to make money off the zoo. We're not trying to gouge the zoo. We're just wanting to recoup the expenses for them to pay for the services that they are using,鈥� said Shyra Eichhorn, chair of the Liberty Township Board of Trustees.
The extra charge is only $1, but if it were up to Trustee Scott Donaldson, it would only be $0.50. The trustees have 60 days to decide if they want to lower the fee.
鈥淚 would hope that our two entities come to the table again and figure out a way to resolve this without tacking on an additional charge to the residents,鈥� Donaldson said.
鈥淲e want to keep a strong relationship with the Columbus Zoo,鈥� Eichhorn said, calling it 鈥渁 gem in our community.鈥�
