Do you go to the zoo? Do you think you should pay an admission fee, or instead that taxpayers should pay for you? User fees - there's a third concept to throw into the mix.

I've never been to the zoo. If I was interested in going I would expect to pay an admission fee, but frankly I'd rather go to a movie. No one's suggested imposing a new property tax to pay for me to go to the movie, however.

Are you saying that zoos add value to the community and so should get money beyond the user fees they can generate in voluntary free market exchanges? Well then, make the case that individuals or groups should voluntarily contribute even though they never go to the zoo. That would hearken back to a quaint custom popular when this country was truly free, a little thing we call civil society.

Who knows, maybe I'll be convinced by your argument and get out my checkbook. (To be honest I probably won't though, because I personally think zoos are gross and obsolete.)