Council Wants BioPark Fee Reduction

Albuquerque city councilors narrowly adopted a bill calling for Mayor Richard Berry to roll back admission fees to the Biological Park.

But the “compromise” legislation also provides the mayor with enough revenue to support the in-house maintenance crew that he said was needed for upkeep at the BioPark, which includes the zoo, aquarium and botanic gardens.

Isaac Benton sponsored the measure, which sets basic adult admission to the BioPark at $9.

Berry had boosted the fee from $7 to $10 in September. His administration later acknowledged that it needed council approval to spend revenue from the increase.

Benton’s bill still provides the roughly $1.2 million in extra in revenue that Berry said was necessary for BioPark upkeep. Benton makes up the difference by charging out-of-state residents even more: $12.50.

Joining Benton in favor of his bill were Trudy Jones, Brad Winter, Michael Cook and Don Harris. Opposed were Rey Garduno, Ken Sanchez, Debbie O’Malley and Dan Lewis — all of whom argued for lesser increases or no increase at all.

I’ll have more in tomorrow’s paper, including comments from Berry on whether he supports the measure.