The Memphis Zoological Society (MZS) is part of a public-private partnership conspiracy operating in Memphis. In FY24 alone, from FY19, $5.1M in annual public deficiency stems from gross MZS mismanagement. This conspiracy also most recently brought the Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP) that is now $12M in debt after abandoning multiple funded City projects where MRPP was paid in full. This again left taxpayers holding the bag.

Lacking public-private oversight by elected officials, costs Memphis-Shelby taxpayers an estimated $15M per year.

Additionally, there are no current public financials available for the Memphis Zoological Foundation (MZF) or Memphis Museums Inc (MOSH), another public-private. In FY23, MZF, with publicly unknown board members, was the recipient of an approximate $8M asset transfer from MZS. MZS is now asking taxpayers to invest in the idea of having the #1 zoo in the country plus $3M more in recurring annual local funding. And MOSH is in the City of Memphis budget for $2.7M and has no current public financials available.

On top of the unaccounted for $8M, the MZS $3M request comes on the heels of MZS’s explosive spending increases since FY19. On a recent airing of Behind the Headlines (BTH), pre-COVID FY19 was regarded as a favorable operating period for MZS. Given this reference, in the following technical analysis, FY19 will be used as a basis for analyzing MZS’s financial performance in FY24.

Per BTH, MZS already receives a $1.2 City of Memphis management fee plus $6.5M in operating support for a total of $7.7M annually (Daily Memphian). In their presentations, MZS touts $90M in annual economic impact (Memphis City Council), which only generates approximately $2.7M in local tax revenue. In other words, the Zoo is never going to publicly pay for itself. So why chase after a low priority #1 designation shared by only the elitist small few?

To Memphis “Philanthropy”: If you want the #1 Zoo in the country, PUKE up ALL the money….

The following analysis was constructed from MZS’s public financials. Keep in mind MZS won’t respond to public information requests regarding their financials. MZS only sees the Zoo as a public asset for receiving tax dollars and not being publicly accountable.  

The table with the red header analyzes Zoo expenditures in context with the Zoo’s revenue growth. It’s fine to grow a public entity faster than the inflation rate but revenue should exceed expense growth. The table with the black header is separate and shows Zoo overspending vs a 21.2% inflation rate from 2019-2024 (Inflation).

In short, from FY19, $5.1M in Memphis Zoological Society (MZS) mismanagement was identified for FY24 as shown in the red table. This mismanagement stems from insufficient fundraising and reckless expense growth. In many ways, the former is in alignment with MRPP that also works as an operating conspiracy against local taxpayers.

As a consequence of reckless mismanagement, MZS is now running to the local taxpayer asking for $3M more in annually recurring tax dollars. If approved, this will result in multiple local entities taking financial haircuts, as recently occurred when the state approved $20M for the Zoo.

Depending on how one views this and from a purely financial view from FY19, there were bright spots in Zoo expense management. But surprisingly these bright spots occurred in areas the Zoo talks so much about like the “animals” and “conservation”. For example, salaries and benefits for “Animal Care” were in line with inflation while outside professional fees decreased. And total “Conservation and Grant Activities” expenses decreased from FY19 in FY24. As far as fundraising and spend mismanagement, let’s take a look.

From 2015-24 Zoo fundraising was deficient. Across fundraising activities, every dollar spent should result in two dollars raised (Fundraising). When reviewing fundraising across categories to include donations, grants, special events and 50% of memberships, the Zoo was $14M deficient over 10 yrs in fundraising or about $1.4M per year.

(Technical Note: Approximately 25% of a membership is additional fundraising, however this analysis generously gave the Zoo 50% fundraising credit against memberships as well as the $8M swept into an unknown non-profit)

As far as Zoo overspending, several examples rise to the top, while occurring in a declining attendance environment vs. a 21.2% inflation rate from FY19. Those FY24 excessive spending increases include:

  All Salaries and Benefits at 81% or $5M in excess vs inflation for FY24

  General Management Salaries and Benefits at 128% and 669K in excess

  Visitor Services Salaries and Benefits at 116% and $978K in excess

  Visitor Services Grand Total at 251% and $2.5M in excess

  Retail and Culinary 460% and $7.2M in excess

  All Outside Professional Fees 84% or $842K in excess

The Memphis Zoological Society has been deficient in fundraising and reckless in their spending. The former works as an operating conspiracy against taxpayers.

Based on a recent article in the Memphis Flyer, concentrating public spend in select parks has not worked. Memphis spent $50 more per person than the average of 100 cities and remained ranked 70 out of 100 in the parks ranking.

The $3M zoo request is not about civic evolution, the animals, conservation or the "babies". The request is about rewarding gross public mismanagement through deficient fundraising, reckless spending and supporting elitist punk family public-private business interests that work as an operating conspiracy against local taxpayers.

$3M in proposed annually recurring local public spending increases should be rejected for the Memphis Zoological Society.

Check the Facts and Final Note

(FINAL NOTE: Please let me know if there are any mistakes in my calculations and I will correct them. I find mistakes in my work often but am confident, even with corrections, I will be right on the overall trend. Additionally, a Comptroller complaint was filed on 6/2/25 regarding possible omitted revenue recognition by the Memphis Zoological Society. The complaint reads: Can you please investigate if the Memphis Zoological Society is reporting "utilities" as an expense while not recognizing utility revenue from the City of Memphis and separate from the City of Memphis Management fee? It was reported by the Daily Memphian that the City pays for Zoo utilities in addition to the City Management Fee. See below:

https://dailymemphian.com/section/metrobehind-the-headlines/article/52188/behind-the-headlines-memphis-zoo-matt-thompson

https://comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/la/advanced-search/2024/other/12138-2024-c-memphiszoos-rpt-cpa882-12-29-24.pdf)

Comptroller. Memphis Zoological Society Financials (2019-20). https://comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/la/advanced-search/2020/other/12138-2020-c-memphiszoos-rpt-cpa236-12-21-20.pdf

Comptroller. Memphis Zoological Society Financials (2021-22). https://comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/la/advanced-search/2022/other/12138-2022-c-memphiszoos-rpt-cpa882-12-30-22.pdf

Comptroller. Memphis Zoological Society Financials (2023-24). https://comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/la/advanced-search/2024/other/12138-2024-c-memphiszoos-rpt-cpa882-12-29-24.pdf

Daily Memphian 5/31/25 - https://dailymemphian.com/section/metrobehind-the-headlines/article/52188/behind-the-headlines-memphis-zoo-matt-thompson

Fundraising - https://1drv.ms/b/c/229429ba69455723/ERO8jDtjWWdPnm8verSFjJgBh-TsExwUFEwFBaLZ64v7fQ?e=s8tRub

Inflation 21.2% from 2019-24 - https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/

Memphis Flyer. Memphis Parks Rank High for Size, Low for Access. 5/27/25. https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis-parks-rank-high-for-size-low-for-access

Memphis City Council Presentation 4/22/25 - https://memphis.granicus.com/player/clip/10309?view_id=6&redirect=true