Measure Z gave Fresno Chaffee Zoo over $71M between 2020 and 2022: What was it spent on?

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Between 2020 and 2022, more than $71 million of taxpayer money was sent to Fresno Chaffee Zoo’s projects thanks to Measure Z – with one exhibit alone receiving almost half of the funding.

For every $10 spent in Fresno, shoppers are taxed a penny. That penny goes toward Measure Z, a sales tax that helps fund the zoo’s capital improvements and operations. Form 990s submitted to the IRS show that between 2020, 2021 and 2022, a total of $71,019,600 was raised for the zoo through Measure Z.

In fiscal year 2020, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo used its $16,818,498 from Measure Z to cover operational costs and to improve the African River (investing $722,424 into that project), the Ambassador Animal Center (investing $1,338,958 into that project), the Kingdoms of Asia exhibit (investing $5,166,707 into that project) and the Zooplex (investing $2,572,562 into that project).

The following year, Fresno Chaffee Zoo received almost double the previous year’s Measure Z funding, using the $32,725,321 received to again cover operational costs and fund improvements. Of that money, $27,637,018 was received for capital improvements, including the Ambassador Animal Center (investing $1,941,363 into that project), the Kingdoms of Asia exhibit (investing $18,741,868 into that project), and the Zooplex building (investing $6,869,877 into that project).

Money raised by Measure Z slowed down in fiscal year 2022, with the zoo receiving $21,475,781 from the sales tax. Of that money, $14,649,772 was sidelined for capital improvements. That money was used to fund improvements on the Ambassador Animal Center (investing $1,941,363 into that project), the Kingdoms of Asia exhibit (investing $11,340795 into that project), and the Zooplex (investing $2,349,078 into that project) but also to fund improvements on the mixed species exhibit and the SLC biotanks.

Over the three years, almost half of the Measure Z funding was spent on the Kingdoms of Asia exhibit, which received $35,249,370 in total across the 2020, 2021 and 2022 fiscal years.