Hillsborough Commission Sets Wednesday Hearing and Final Vote on $75 Million ZooTampa Expansion Deal

The Hillsborough County Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing and final vote Wednesday, Oct. 7, on a public-private partnership that would give ZooTampa at Lowry Park $75 million in Community Investment Tax money over 15 years, matched dollar for dollar by the zoo, to pay for a new South America area and upgrades across the Tampa park.

The hearing is required before the county can commit money from the Community Investment Tax, Hillsborough's voter-approved half-cent sales tax for capital projects. It caps a six-month process that began with an April vote to open negotiations and a divided Sept. 16 vote directing staff to finalize the agreement. The commission meeting is set to begin at 9 a.m.

If approved, the deal would be among the largest single public commitments ever made to a Tampa Bay cultural attraction, and it arrives weeks after the same board pledged $360 million in Community Investment Tax money toward a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium.

What the agreement would fund

Under the proposal, the county would pay roughly $5 million a year through 2041, and ZooTampa would match each county dollar with money from private donations and park revenue. The combined $150 million would carry out the zoo's master plan, which earlier county and zoo descriptions put at about $125 million before the full program was priced out.

The centerpiece is a new South America area built across the street from the current park on a city-owned maintenance property near the Hillsborough River. Zoo officials have said the expansion could roughly double the zoo's footprint and connect it to the riverfront, with new habitats for animals such as giant river otters and jaguars, along with dining and event space.

Tampa Bay Business & Wealth, which reviewed the proposed program, reported this breakdown of the $150 million plan:

Zoo leaders have said the first improvements would focus on the tiger and orangutan habitats at the front of the park. FOX 13 reported in April that renovations to existing exhibits could begin by late 2027, while no firm timeline has been set for the full South America build-out.

How the deal got here

ZooTampa brought its request to the county in the spring. In early April, commissioners unanimously agreed to negotiate a partnership, and the county announced on April 10 that the zoo's biggest expansion yet was getting a boost from Hillsborough. Commissioner Joshua Wostal championed the idea at the time, telling WUSF he believed it would become a destination attraction for the whole region.

The proposal returned to the board Sept. 16. According to the county's meeting recap, a majority of commissioners voted for staff to finalize the partnership and to advertise the Oct. 7 Community Investment Tax hearing. Reports on the tally differ. Tampa Bay Business & Wealth reported a 5-2 vote, with Chair Ken Hagan and Commissioner Harry Cohen opposed and Commissioners Chris Boles, Christine Miller, Donna Cameron Cepeda, Gwen Myers and Wostal in favor. Other accounts of the meeting recorded a 4-3 result with Myers also voting no. The official minutes will settle the count, and Wednesday's vote is the one that commits the money.

ZooTampa President and CEO Joe Couceiro said after the September vote that the investment would help the organization "continue to make ourselves a 21st-century, world-class zoo," according to WUSF. The zoo said the money would support endangered and threatened species, expand educational programs and strengthen its role as a cultural and economic anchor.

The fight over cultural funding

The sharpest objection has come from Hagan, who argued the board was moving the zoo ahead of other institutions with their own requests. Florida Politics reported that Hagan called the sequence "cherry-picking" and said he was standing with cultural institutions he believed were "getting the shaft today." In April, he had warned that the Straz Center, Tampa Theatre, the Tampa Bay History Center and the Florida Aquarium were likely to bring similar requests.

They have. Five Tampa institutions are seeking a combined $90 million from the county, according to Tampa Bay Business & Wealth:

• Straz Center for the Performing Arts: $40 million over eight years for electrical and life-safety systems, HVAC, hurricane hardening and accessibility.
• The Florida Aquarium: $30 million over 10 years, including $16 million to close the gap on its Sea Change expansion and money to restore its dome and wetlands exhibit.
• Tampa Bay History Center: $10 million for a new Water Street entrance and building upgrades.
• Glazer Children's Museum: $8 million over three years for renovations and new exhibits.
• Tampa Theatre: $2 million for auditorium restoration, plumbing and HVAC, and a new wing along Florida Avenue.

Those requests are not on Wednesday's agenda as part of the zoo agreement, but they will draw from the same pool of sales tax money.

The money behind it

The Community Investment Tax was first approved by Hillsborough voters in 1996. In November 2024, voters renewed it for 15 more years, from Dec. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2041, by a margin of 51.57% to 48.43%, according to Ballotpedia. The renewal cut the share reserved for schools from 25% to 5%, leaving more for county and city capital projects such as roads, public safety, public facilities and utilities.

The zoo agreement would run the full length of that renewed tax. It also competes with one of the largest commitments in county history: on Aug. 28, commissioners voted 5-2 to put $796 million toward a $2.3 billion Rays ballpark at the Hillsborough College campus on Dale Mabry Highway, including $360 million in Community Investment Tax funds, according to Bay News 9. In that vote, Wostal and Cameron Cepeda were the two no votes, while Hagan and Cohen voted yes.

Why it matters for Tampa Bay

ZooTampa draws about 1.2 million visitors a year and bills itself as Florida's most-attended cultural institution. Supporters on the commission have described it as one of the most financially accessible attractions in the county. The zoo also runs one of the state's key manatee critical care centers: zoo officials told WUSF that more than 600 manatees have been rehabilitated and released, and that the zoo has spent more than $50 million over the past three years on manatee rescue facilities, its Florida Waters exhibit, a Discovery Center and a stingray facility.

The South America expansion would also reshape a stretch of land along the Hillsborough River north of downtown Tampa, turning a city maintenance property into public attraction space. Because the site belongs to the city of Tampa, the project will require coordination beyond the county agreement.

What's next

Commissioners will take public comment and then vote on the funding at Wednesday's meeting at the County Center in downtown Tampa. If the agreement passes, the county's annual payments would be tied to the zoo's matching dollars and to specific projects in the master plan, with the first work expected on the Asia area. Opponents could still seek changes to the terms or push to pair the zoo deal with commitments to the five other institutions. The board's handling of those $90 million in pending requests is likely to be the next test of how Hillsborough spends its renewed half-cent tax.