The Dane County Sheriff’s Office “did not identify any criminal conduct” on the part of the Henry Vilas Zoological Society or any of its employees after an investigation into its fundraising requested by the Dane County Executive’s Office and a county board supervisor.
At issue was the amount of money collected in the zoo’s greeter boxes, located at both entrances of the zoo, and the donor tubes, located at the most popular animal locations on the grounds.
County officials worried that hundreds of thousands of dollars were missing over the last few years after raising roughly $200,000 this year alone in both the greeter boxes and the donor tubes. The reports they’d received from the Society showed the total in the tens of thousands the last few years.
But, the Society’s president said the money was always accounted for in its official financial documents and in its accounts at Associated Bank. Those financial documents, which had not been turned over to the county despite repeated requests from Charles Hicklin, the county’s chief financial officer, were examined by a Dane County sheriff’s deputy and no criminal charges were recommended.
“The documents provided by (the Society) provide information of deposits for the greeter box and donor tube donations, which ultimately does not portray a significant difference from donations the county has received,” wrote Detective Janet Boehnen in her 42-page investigative report. “My investigation did not provide any findings that the Zoological Society had been depositing any donations through fundraising, endowments or any other donations to any other account other than the accounts set up at Associated Bank for the Zoological Society and zoo operations.”
Last month, the county and the Society agreed that the nonprofit’s $7 million endowment would be turned over to the Madison Community Foundation to support the zoo’s ongoing work. That money included $593,000 raised from the greeter boxes over the last few years.
“Thanks to the sheriff’s investigation, we learned that the nonprofit accounted for these cash donations differently and these amounts were not previously included in financial documents provided to the zoo or Dane County,” wrote Carlos Pabellon, Dane County’s corporation counsel. “With the sheriff’s investigation now closed and the recently executed agreement providing the zoo with the collection box donations, we are satisfied that the community’s donations have been directed toward supporting the zoo.”
In an emailed statement, the Society said it was "pleased with the ultimate finding" from the sheriff's investigation. "From our perspective, there was never really a question."
The Society also said in its statement that it "always prided itself on sound financial oversight and public transparency."
The relationship between the Society and the county, in existence for 105 years, ended at the start of April over allegations of financial mismanagement and counter-accusations of slander.
[Editor's note: This article was updated to include comments emailed by the Henry Vilas Zoological Society after this story was published.]