SOUTH BEND — If implemented, Potawatomi Zoo’s $37 million master plan will have a $343 million impact on the local economy over 10 years, a new study predicts, helping to support 652 jobs across various economic sectors.
“We’re excited about these numbers, because it really shows the positive impact the master plan can have on the community,” Marcy Dean, executive director of the facility, said Tuesday.
Release of the study coincides with the zoo’s push for adoption of a 1 percent food and beverage tax in St. Joseph County to help pay for the master plan, which calls for significant improvements to the 114-year-old facility over the next 15 to 20 years.
The zoo would receive 0.25 percent of the tax, or an estimated $1 million annually.
Dean said the study provides support for such a tax and also “shows foundations and private individuals that dollars brought into the zoo for the master plan have a positive impact on the community in which (they) live and serve.”
Adoption of a food and beverage tax here requires support from the state legislature as well as two of the three local councils, namely the St. Joseph County, South Bend and Mishawaka councils.
Members of those councils met jointly last week to discuss the tax in general terms and gather input from the public and others, including those familiar with the legislative process.
Two more meetings are scheduled.
Still, support for the tax appears tepid at best. It is opposed by both the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce and many local restaurants. And it has yet to gain support within the General Assembly.
Still, Dean remains optimistic.