The Honolulu Zoo’s admission fees for residents might rise for the first time in over a decade, the city says.

If approved by the City Council under 2023’s Bill 7, admission fees to the zoo at 151 Kapahulu Ave. would increase by $2 for Hawaii residents. A similar $2 fee increase is also planned for nonresident visitors and members of the U.S. military, though not directly under this measure, the city says.

As proposed, for kamaaina and eventually for the military, those 13 and older would pay $10 per person, up from the current $8. Children 3 to 12 years of age would pay $6 per person, up from $4. Under a pending action, the city would see nonresidents 13 and older pay $21 per person, up from $19, while nonresidents 3 to 12 years old would pay $13 per person, up from $11, the city says.

Children 2 and younger and Honolulu Zoological Society members would still enter the zoo for free.

Jerry Pupillo, the city’s Enterprise Services director, said the proposed fee hikes were based on entrance fees charged at other zoos in the United States.

“We looked across the country at zoos that are similar in size as our great zoo, and in the $2 (million) to $7 million range in revenue and we were in the lower 10% of fees to enter the zoo,” Pupillo told the Council’s Committee on Budget on May 2. “And I think that this modest increase of $2 for both the adult and child is a reasonable step in the direction to continue to try to provide great care for our animals and also cover our expenses at the zoo.”

He added that the last time the Honolulu Zoo increased admission fees for residents was in 2011. The zoo last increased its nonresident admission fees in 2017.

After the meeting, Pupillo told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the primary reason to raise admission fees to the zoo came down to costs.

“Rising operational costs necessitates a slight $2 increase,” Pupillo said via email. “These fees will keep the kamaaina prices in the lower 10% of similar sized zoos across the country.”

Pupillo added “nonresident fees are set by administrative rules and our goal is to advance them — $2 adult and $2 child as well — at the same time as approvals are completed for the kamaaina (and) military.”

According to city reports, if Bill 7 becomes an ordinance, the $2 increase in resident admission fees for adults and children is expected to generate about $270,880 per year in revenue. A nonresident $2 increase would generate about $334,606 annually, “if and when the fees are increased by administrative rules,” city reports state.

The City Council is expected to review Bill 7 for approval “within a few weeks, with effective dates of July 1, 2023,” Pupillo said.

Currently, the Honolulu Zoo has 88 employees who oversee about 900 animals. The zoo’s current budget is approximately $7.35 million. For fiscal year 2024, the zoo’s budget is proposed to rise to $8.9 million.

According to Pupillo, annual visitor numbers at the Honolulu Zoo this year are trending toward the mid-500,000s. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the zoo saw about 580,000 visitors. He attributed the zoo’s lower attendance numbers this year to a slowdown in tourist traffic to Hawaii — mainly fewer visitors coming from Japan.

During the budget committee meeting, Council member Calvin Say asked Pupillo how much the city and county subsidized the zoo for its total cost of operations.

Pupillo replied the cost was over $2 million. “Again, that varies on attendance,” he added. “This year we’re probably running at 25% to 30% ahead of last year’s attendance. So that number will change obviously, so the additional dollars that we generate offsets are own (fund).”

He noted “additional initiatives” — including expanded advertising and marketing campaigns — began in the past few weeks to further promote the zoo. “The more that that turnstile can turn the better off we are at generating and being self-supportive at the zoo,” Pupillo added.

In response, Say asked if there was a vision toward keeping the zoo self-sustaining and without city subsidies, which he noted came, in part, from the city’s collection of real property tax revenues.

“And the thought would be that having this type of discussion pushes you ahead, to look at it from a different point of view rather than always coming back to the city for real property tax funds,” Say said.

Pupillo said he agreed and “that is part of the mission and we want to work toward that, thank you.”

Later, Pupillo added that for his overall department — which oversees Neal S. Blaisdell Center and Waikiki Shell, six municipal golf courses as well as the zoo — “the last two years, from just a revenue perspective, have probably been two of the best years the department has had because the division heads have focused on developing … making those turnstiles turn at different venues.”