Although disappointed, Zoo Director Craig Dinsmore said Thursday he would continue fighting for fixes to the aging east-side park at the mouth of Emigration Canyon - with or without the council's support.

"This is not over yet," Dinsmore said, "because the animals still need better homes."

So with the County Council voting 5-4 against a referendum this year, the zoo boss plans to push private donations and potentially pitch the bond again next year.

The zoo's defeat Thursday fell along partisan lines with the council's five Republicans outnumbering the four Democrats to keep Hogle's $65 million bond off the fall ballot.

That bond would have paid for, among other improvements, an expansive arctic exhibit with up to five polar bears, an upgraded animal hospital and a more lifelike African savanna with giraffes, rhinos and lions.

"Not every issue is about worthiness," Republican Councilman Jeff Allen said. "It is about prioritization."

Those sentiments resonated among his conservative colleagues, who said they could not support a potential tax increase of $8 to $14 a year on a $250,000 home when Salt Lake Valley schools may have to tap those dollars for education.

If east-siders, for instance, vote this fall to splinter from the Jordan School District, west-siders could face hefty tax hikes.

Democratic Councilwoman Jenny Wilson labeled the linkage of the zoo bond to school funding "a bunch of bunk."

"If we make a statement that we will not fund projects until we solve education," she said, "we won't build in this community."

Before losing the zoo bond by one vote, Democrats lobbed a final compromise.

Instead of putting the whole $65 million before voters, the council would allow only $35 million. The zoo then would have two years to raise $10 million in private donations. If successful, the council would look "favorably" upon a second $30 million bond.

But the proposal fizzled.

"I'm not saying no forever," said GOP Councilman Michael Jensen, who fears the tax burden on his west-side constituents. "I'm just saying no right now."

Others - both inside and outside county government - already had said yes to Hogle's $85 million expansion plan ($65 million from taxpayers and $20 million from private donors).

The county's Debt Review Committee signed off on it last month as a safe investment. And this week the Humane Society of Utah embraced the animal-friendly overhaul.

"The zoo has made great progress in replacing much of the old concrete-and-steel enclosures with more spacious and natural habitats," executive director Gene Baierschmidt said in a news release. "When the expansion is complete, the animals will be living in conditions that will truly be like home to them."

Now the critters will have to wait for those new homes.

Hogle officials had hoped to lock up voter approval for the bond this year. Historically, the zoo has proved a winner when it reaches the ballot. County residents twice have funded the Zoo, Arts and Parks tax - in 1996 and 2004 with Hogle as one of the biggest beneficiaries - and Salt Lake City voters backed a $10 million bond in 2003 for new elephant and big-cat exhibits.

After Thursday's setback, Dinsmore smiled, chuckled and seemed outwardly unfazed. He remarked simply, "We'll stay the course."

jstettler@sltrib.com