Sedgwick County Zoo

on

Since funding for and management of the Sedgwick County Zoo is in the news, here are some articles showing how generous the county has been with funding.

Sedgwick County Zoo funding

The Sedgwick County Commission has been generous with zoo funding, spending far more than agreed upon and granting a moratorium on loan payments and interest.

Sedgwick County Zoo funding from the county, planned and actual. Click for larger.
Sedgwick County Zoo funding from the county, planned and actual. Click for larger.
In September 2013 the Sedgwick County Commission agreed on a new funding plan with the Sedgwick County Zoo for years 2014 through 2018. For 2016 the recommended budget calls for keeping funding the same as the 2015 level instead of a 6.9 percent increase as indicated by the 2013 plan.

That’s the plan. What actually happened is quite different.

In September 2014 the commission voted to give the zoo $5.3 million to help pay for a new elephant exhibit. This contribution was not in any funding agreement, and the money was paid in January 2015. This extra funding is almost as large as the planned funding for 2015, which was about $5.6 million.

July 28, 2015. Click here for the full article.

For Sedgwick County Zoo, a moratorium on its commitment

As the Sedgwick County Zoo and its supporters criticize commissioners for failing to honor commitments, the Zoo is enjoying a deferral of loan payments and a break from accumulating interest charges.

What happened? The county loaned the zoo money to build a restaurant. But the zoo was not able to make the payments as agreed. So the county deferred the payments. I’ll be surprised if the zoo makes any payments after the deferral period ends.

July 28, 2015. Click here for the full article.

Cost of restoring quality of life spending cuts in Sedgwick County: 43 deaths

An analysis of public health spending in Sedgwick County illuminates the consequences of public spending decisions. In particular, those calling for more spending on zoos and arts must consider the lives that could be saved by diverting this spending to public health, according to analysis from Kansas Health Institute.

August 11, 2015. Click here for the full article.

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.