Voters approve zoo, museum millage by comfortable margin

November 6, 2026

EE Zoo and Museum Millage BRF 1 — Godwin Heights junior Liedy Venegas-Villagomez takes a photograph of an African pygmy hedgehog during a class visit to the John Ball Zoo

Education Everywhere — As part of the Tuesday, Nov. 4 general election, Kent County voters approved a 10-year property-tax renewal for the John Ball Zoo and Grand Rapids Public Museum by a vote of 198,946 to 98,364.

The .4086-mill tax will be levied through 2035. As allocated by the Kent County Board of Commissioners, John Ball Zoo will receive 64% of the funding and the museum will receive 36%. The first-year revenue raised is estimated to be about $15.6 million, while projected 10-year funding estimates are approximately $124.1 million for the zoo and $69.8 million for the museum.

According to the Yes Museum Zoo website, the zoo plans to use the money for daily care and habitats for more than 2,000 animals, capital projects and educational/STEAM programs.

The museum will use the funds for the preservation of more than 250,000 artifacts and specimens, exhibits maintenance, planetarium operations and curriculum-aligned student learning.

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Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

Joanne Bailey-Boorsma is a reporter covering Kent ISD, Godwin Heights, Kelloggsville, Forest Hills and Comstock Park. The salutatorian for the Hartland Public Schools class of 1985, she changed her colors from blue and maize to green and white by attending Michigan State University, where she majored in journalism. Joanne moved to the Grand Rapids area in 1989, where she started her journalism career at the Advance Newspapers. She later became the editor for On-the-Town magazine, a local arts and entertainment publication. Her husband, Mike, works the General Motors plant in Wyoming; her oldest daughter, Kara, is a registered nurse working in Holland, and her youngest, Maggie, is studying music at Oakland University. She is a volunteer for the Van Singel Fine Arts Advisory Board and the Kent District Library. In her free time, Joanne enjoys spending time with her family, checking out local theater and keeping up with all the exchange students they have hosted through the years.