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The Metro Council last week voted to send a $380 million bond measure to the May ballot aimed at improving and repairing facilities at the Oregon Zoo, including renovating the tiger habitat and expanding the sea otter habitat.
The measure would add a property tax of about 8.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to the tax bills of people living in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties.
Metro voters last approved an Oregon Zoo bond in 2008. That bond invested $125 million in a new educational facility and habitats for polar bears and elephants, among other resident animals. The bond that will appear on the May ballot would be a renewal of the 2008 bond.
An inspection by the Oregon Zoo’s national accreditor last summer noted mild concerns about various facilities—including a penguin exhibit that was not “aesthetically pleasing”—but raised no major concerns. That’s a shift from recent history, when animal care was an issue regularly in the news. In 2019, WW reported on the mysterious death of the zoo’s only aardvark, among other issues.
The Oregon Zoo has just under 2 million paid visitors per year, making it a moneymaker for the Metro regional government.
Zoo bonds, much like bonds targeted at improving opportunities for children outside of school, are popular with Metro voters. The 2008 zoo bond passed with nearly 60% of area voters giving it the thumbs up.
The Metro bond is one of only two tax measures that appear to be headed to Portlanders’ ballots this May; the other is a renewal of the Portland gas tax, which funds improvements to Portland’s streets. But backers of tax proposals have until March 21 to file a ballot title with the Multnomah County Elections Office.
Clarification: A previous version of this story stated that the Zoo Bond appears to be the only tax heading to the May ballot. In fact, the city of Portland is sending a gas tax renewal to the ballot, too.