Where can the village of Brookfield find more revenue from Brookfield Zoo without imposing an amusement tax on admissions, memberships, parking and party rentals?
One issue likely on the table is what the zoo pays Brookfield for water. The zoo is what you would call a power user. But while Brookfield Zoo pays eye-popping water bills, it also gets a huge break from the village, because Brookfield sells water to the zoo at cost.
That is to say, Brookfield Zoo pays about 40 percent of what a residential customer in Brookfield pays for water. In addition, the zoo does not pay any sewer charges to the village at all.
The zoo does pay the village an annual water surcharge of $105,000, which it remits in two installments. The zoo has paid the surcharge since 1989, when the fee was set at $90,000. The fee increased every five years since 1989 by about 5 percent.
In 2004, the charge increased to $105,000. But when 2009 rolled around, the fee wasn’t increased. Instead, the village board voted to maintain the $105,000 surcharge for another year. When it came up for renewal in 2010 – at the June 28 meeting where zoo supporters showed up to oppose the proposed amusement tax – the item was tabled, leading some to believe that water charges are a part of the village’s current negotiations with the zoo.
Even with the surcharge, however, the zoo does not pay what a residential customer would pay for water.
So, just how much has the zoo benefited from the arrangement? According to records provided by Brookfield Finance Director Doug Cooper, from January 2007 through June 2010, the zoo paid $1.87 million for water, including the cost of water and the annual surcharge.
Had the zoo been charged at the residential rate and charged for sewer use, the zoo would have paid $3.25 million. That’s a savings for the zoo of $32,987 per month since January 2007, according to Cooper.
– Bob Uphues