The Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District or ZMD is a cultural tax district in St. Louis City and St. Louis County, Missouri. The district has five subdistricts: the St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Science Center, Missouri History Museum, and Missouri Botanical Garden. Of these, all but the Botanical Gardens are located in or near Forest Park. The district collects property taxes from residents of the City of St. Louis (St. Louis City) and St. Louis County and distributes the funds to each subdistrict. Institutions within the subdistrict are public non-profits. Only the Missouri Botanical Gardens charges an admission fee. The other institutions are free to the public, whether or not they live in St. Louis City or County.
Beginning in 1907 and 1915 respectively, the St. Louis Art Museum and the St. Louis Zoo were both publicly funded by property taxes paid by residents of St. Louis City. Zoo chairman Howard Baer and his successor, Circuit Judge Thomas F. McGuire, worked with their supporters to secure the statute to establish the district. H.B. 23 authorized a 1971 vote in St. Louis City and County, in which voters approved the creation of the tax district to fund the Zoo and the Art Museum at a rate of 4 cents each for every $100 assessed. The Museum of Science and Natural History, a St. Louis County institution now operating as The Science Center in St. Louis City, had previously received no tax benefit. Voters approved it as a member of the district at a rate of 1 cent for every $100 assessed. [1]
Earl Wipfler was selected as the first Executive Director of the district in 1972, and he guided the initial creation of the district's budgeting and accounting procedures. The Missouri Supreme Court approved them. [1] Wipfler served as Executive Director until 1990.
Voters approved adding the Missouri Botanical Garden as the district's fourth subdistrict in 1983, and the Missouri History Museum in 1988. [1]
Olney F. Otto served as the district's second executive director from 1990 until his death in 2001. Mr. J. Patrick Dougherty has served in the position since. [1]
From an initial annual revenue of $3.9 million in 1972, the district grew to $85 million in 2020. Around 85% of these funds come from the county, with the city providing about 15%. Though the tax rate is the same in both city and county, the disparity in property value and population accounts for the difference in money generated. [2]
The eight-member governing board is composed of four appointments from St. Louis City, chosen by the mayor, and four from St. Louis County, chosen by the county executive. The terms last four years, and two positions open up on January 1 each year, one for the city and one for the county. [1]
Through the funds collected by the property tax, all five subdistricts operate without charging admission. Some people have questioned whether tourists and residents of areas outside St. Louis City and St. Louis County should continue to be allowed free admission. Over the years proposals have been put forth to charge admission to nonresidents of the city or county. and that it might be just to charge them, as they contribute nothing to the regional attractions. The exception to this is the Missouri Botanical Garden, which charges admission to non-residents of St. Louis City and County at a higher rate than residents. Institutional and political efforts to persuade neighboring Jefferson, St. Charles and other counties to pass tax levies to join the district (and contribute to operations of the regional attractions) have not been successful. The issue of equity has come up intermittently throughout the district's history.
The MZMD is one of the earliest, largest, and most successful cultural districts of its kind. Other cities have created similar programs and tax districts based on the St. Louis model. [2]
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. With more than six million residents, it is the 19th-most populous state of the country. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia; the capital is Jefferson City. The state is the 21st-most extensive in area. Missouri is bordered by eight states : Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska to the west. In the south are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center of the state into the Mississippi River, which makes up Missouri's eastern border.
St. Louis is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers, on the western bank of the latter. As of 2019, the city proper had an estimated population of around 300,000, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which extends into Illinois, had an estimated population of over 2.8 million, making it the largest metropolitan area in Missouri, the second-largest in Illinois, the seventh-largest in the Great Lakes Megalopolis, and the 20th-largest in the United States.
St. Louis County is located in the eastern-central portion of Missouri. It is bounded by the City of St. Louis and the Mississippi River to the east, the Missouri River to the north, and the Meramec River to the south. As of the 2019 Census Bureau population estimate, the population was 994,205, making it the most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Clayton. The county is included in the St. Louis, MO–IL metropolitan statistical area.
The Saint Louis Zoo, officially the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Admission is free based on a public subsidy from a cultural tax district, the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District (ZMD); fees are charged for some special attractions. A special feature is the 2 ft narrow gauge Emerson Zooline Railroad with passenger trains pulled by Chance Rides C.P. Huntington locomotives that encircle the zoo, stopping at the more popular attractions.
The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million specimens, is the second largest in North America, behind that of the New York Botanical Garden.
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Metro Transit is an enterprise of Bi-State Development, an interstate compact formed by Missouri and Illinois in 1949. Its operating budget in 2016 was $280 million, which is funded by sales taxes from the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County, the St. Clair County Illinois Transit District, federal and state grants and subsidies, and through fare paying passengers.
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Shaw is a neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri. It is bordered on the North by Interstate 44, the east by S. Grand Blvd., the west by Tower Grove Ave and the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and the south by Tower Grove Park. The Shaw Neighborhood is a local historic district whose historic structure and character is protected by ordinance.
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Forest Park Southeast (FPSE) is a neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. It is bordered by Interstate 64 to the north, Vandeventer Avenue to the east, Interstate 44 to the south, and Kingshighway Boulevard and Forest Park to the west. Adjoining neighborhoods include Kings Oak and The Hill to the west, Southwest Garden to the south, Botanical Heights to the southeast, Midtown to the east, and the Central West End to the north.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Missouri.
The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a public research university in St. Louis County, Missouri. Established in 1963, it is one of four universities in the University of Missouri System and its newest. UMSL's campus is located on the former grounds of the Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis County, with an address in St. Louis city. The campus stretches into the municipalities of Bellerive, Bel-Nor and Normandy. Additional facilities are located at the former site of Marillac College and at Grand Center, both in St. Louis city.
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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) persons in the U.S. state of Missouri as of late have most of the same legal rights as non-LGBT persons have, but nonetheless face some legal challenges not experienced by other residents throughout the state, excluding St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Missouri.
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