No they cannot. And here are the reasons why.

As we’ve demonstrated elsewhere, “each year, the District establishes…annual Recreation…and Beach Facility Fee(s)…collected from property owners within the District through a levy placed on the(ir) property tax bill(s)¹…As part of the annual budget process the Board traditionally approves a resolution which outlines the billing (‘NRS”‘ 318.197²) and collection (318.201³) process(es) set forth in (the) Nevada Revised Statutes (“NRS”)…which establish…the amount of the…RFF and…BFF to be collected,” and the collection election options to have such charges collected on the county tax roll⁴.

“At (a publicly noticed) meeting the Board…t(akes) action (via resolution⁵)…which…(approves) a final report⁶ contain(ing) a description of each parcel of real property (allegedly) receiving…services and facilities (from the District, and) the (final) amount of…charge(s)…for such year.”⁷

What The District Expressly Tells Us The RFF/BFF Represent: That resolution and report describe the RFF/BFF as “standby and service charges⁸ (for)…the availability of the use of IVGID’s beaches” and other delineated public recreation facilities⁹.

By Inference, What The District Tells Us The RFF/BFF Do Not Represent: Given NRS 318.197 allows GID boards to “fix, and from time to time increase or decrease…recreational facilit(y)…rates, tolls or charges other than special assessments, including, but not limited to, service charges and standby service charges, for services or facilities furnished by the district, charges for the availability of service, annexation charges, and minimum charges,” and the District has told us the RFF/BFF represent “standby and service charges (for)…the availability of the use of IVGID’s beaches” and other delineated public recreation facilities, we can infer they have told us the RFF/BFF do not represent other types of fees such as “service charges…for services or facilities furnished by the district.”

But Because We Can‘t Trust Staff And The Current/Future Boards to not re-label what the RFF/BFF purport to be (because the ends justify the means), here we make the case the RFF/BFF can’t possibly represent “service charges…for services or facilities furnished by the district.”

What Are “Services?” “Services are intangible, value-added activities that a (business¹⁰) provides to its customers. They…can be physical or digital. Physical services are those…you can touch, feel, or see, such as a haircut or a massage. Digital services are those that exist in the digital world, such as an app or a website…Service industries are those…that provide services to customers. These industries include…a) banking and financial services; b) professional services; healthcare; restaurants and food services; retail; transportation;”¹¹ and as here, government. And given the context within which the question is asked (i.e., recreation), wouldn’t the answer to the question “what are services” be “recreation” services?

What Are “Facilities?” Given the context within which the question is asked (i.e., recreation), wouldn’t the answer be “a building or place used predominantly for…recreation, whether or not operated for the purposes of gain, including a squash court, indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, table tennis centre, health studio, bowling alley, ice rink…exposition buildings, museums, skating rinks, other type rinks, fieldhouses, sports arenas, bowling alleys, swimming pools, stadiums, golf courses, tennis courts, squash courts, other courts, ball fields, other athletic fields, tracks, playgrounds, bowling greens, ball parks, public parks, promenades, beaches, marinas, levees, piers, docks, wharves, boat basins, boathouses, harborages, anchorages, gymnasiums, appurtenant shower, locker and other bathhouse facilities, amusement halls, dance halls, concert halls, theaters, auditoriums, aviaries, aquariums, zoological gardens, biological gardens and vivariums,”¹² or “any place of like character?”

What Recreation Services Does The District Furnish? Given the above-definition of “service,” we can only assume that the answer to the question “what recreation services does the District furnish” is “intangible, value-added activities” which translates into “things” like recreation programming; golf, tennis, ski/snowboard lessons; etc.

What Recreation Facilities Does The District Furnish? Because NRS 318.197(1) instructs that GID Board(s) “may fix…service charges…for…facilities furnished by the district,” is it any surprise that the resolution the Board adopts¹⁰ each year pursuant to NRS 318.201(9) “specifically finds that: the availability of the use (as opposed to actual use) of IVGID’s beaches; boat launch ramp; Championship golf course; Mountain golf course; tennis facilities; the Chateau and Aspen Grove; Diamond Peak Ski Resort, and Recreation Center (i.e., facilities)…are all benefits?” Is it any surprise that ¶I of the report the Board adopts⁵¹ pursuant to ¶6 of that resolution¹⁰ labels these amenities “recreational facilities?” And that “the (resolution) at issue was undoubtedly drafted with NRS 318.197(1)…firmly in mind?”¹³ Therefore the answer to the question of what recreation facilities the District furnishes, is VGID’s beaches; boat launch ramp; Championship golf course; Mountain golf course; tennis facilities; the Chateau and Aspen Grove; Diamond Peak Ski Resort, and Recreation Center.

Who Are The Beneficiaries of The Recreation Services The District Allegedly Furnishes? The District has told us the RFF/BFF really pre-pay for up to five (5) District membership cards (like Costco, Sam’s Club or now Best Buy¹⁴). For years staff have accompanied the District’s final budgets with a letter addressed, in part, to “the…Citizens of Incline Village and Crystal Bay.”¹⁵ The letter has, in part, expressly answered the question: “What Privileges…Parcel Owners Get For Paying…Facility Fees.” Stated differently, the letter informs citizens what the RFF/BFF actually pay for? We quote from page 16 of the letter accompanying the 2018-19 Budget:

“Each eligible parcel that pays the RFF can have five (5) cards issued in the form of picture passes…and/or punch cards…or a combination of both. The Picture Passholder (“PPH”) gets preferred pricing and/or preferred access to the District’s major (recreation) venues or programming…A Punch Card Holder receives the opportunity, at designated (recreation) venues, to reduce their user fees from the (retail) rack rate to the (preferred) PPH rate.”¹⁶

Who Are The Beneficiaries of The Recreation Facilities The District Allegedly Furnishes? Aren’t they people¹⁰? After all, how do real properties access and use the District’s recreation facilities described above?

What Are Charges For Services? “A service charge, also called a service fee, refers to a fee collected to pay for services that relate to a product or service (here recreation) that is being purchased¹⁷. In other words, some charge in consideration of some furnished “service.”

What Are Charges For Facilities? As stated above⁴⁴, “a service charge, also called a service fee, refers to a fee collected to pay for services that relate to a product or service (here recreation) that is being purchased.” But how does this type of charge differ from a fee collected to pay for facilities? It doesn’t!

Given NRS 318.201(9) Allows GIDs to Collect The RFF/BFF Against “Each Parcel (Actually) Receiving…Services,” What Recreation Services Does The District Furnish to Those Parcels Which Are Assessed? The simple answer to the question is NONE! Because NRS 318.197(1) instructs GID Boards may “fix…service charges…for services…furnished by the district,” and NRS 318.201(9) instructs a GID Board may “prepare and file a final report…for inclusion on the assessment roll…which shall contain a description of each parcel receiving…services,” each year the Board passes a resolution⁵ which, in part, adopts the RFF/BFF. But where does the District tell the public that the adopted RFF/BFF pay for recreation services furnished to real property¹⁸? And why is this omission noteworthy? Because the District elects to collect the RFF/BFF on the Washoe County tax roll¹⁹. And as a pre-condition, NRS 318.201(9) mandates “the secretary…prepare and file a final report, which shall contain a description of each parcel receiving…services.” Therefore unless recreation services are furnished to those real properties which are assessed, there is no statutory authority for the District to collect the RFF/BFF on the county tax roll.

Moreover, exactly what services are furnished to property? When we think of services furnished to real property, we think of those delivered via some physical connection or those immediately adjacent thereto, don’t we? Services such as electricity or natural gas. Or cable internet and/or television. Or water and sewer services. Or maybe even solid waste removal and snow plowing services? All of which are delivered via public streets which are immediately adjacent to those parcels benefited or capable of being benefited. But what recreation or beach services are furnished to those real properties which are assessed? Which recreation or beach facilities are physically connected or immediately adjacent to those real properties? Unless your home is located adjacent to the fairway of one of the District’s two golf courses, we can’t think of any. Can you?

Finally, the sale of membership cards is not some “service.” Rather, it is the sale of tangible personal property, And as aforesaid, rather than real property, the beneficiaries of these membership cards are “property owners (i.e., people) of all properties” assessed¹⁰. This is another admission by means of conduct that the RFF/BFF do not pay for District recreation services. Let alone those furnished to real property.

Given NRS 318.201(9) Allows GIDs to Collect The RFF/BFF Against “Each Parcel (Actually) Receiving…Facilities,” What Recreation Facilities Does The District Furnish to Those Privately Owned Parcels Which Are Assessed? Again the answer is NONE! ¶¶4(b) and 4(c) of the resolution the Board adopts each year⁵ pursuant to NRS 318.201(9) finds that the availability of the facilities enumerated therein “are…benefits which inure to” people. But given those who are charged the RFF/BFF are property, and to be valid the RFF/BFF must “appl(y) to the direct beneficiar(ies) of (the) particular service(s),”²⁰ we can’t think of any District recreation facility that is furnished to real property. Can you? Moreover, because District owned recreation facilities are public (see discussion below), aren’t they just as available to be accessed and used by anyone who pays applicable user fee(s) without payment of the RFF, as to those whose properties are assessed the RFF? And because the beaches are subject to an easement which accords that same access and use, free of payment of any fee, aren’t they available to be accessed and used by any property owner with beach access without payment of the BFF?

Moreover, how does real property access and use recreational facilities which are neither physically connected nor immediately adjacent thereto? Because NRS 318.197(3) mandates that “the board…prescribe and enforce regulations for the connection with and the disconnection from properties of the facilities of the district and the taking of its services,” doesn’t this language mean that in order to receive the recreation facilities the District represents it furnishes there must be some “physical connection” between the two²¹? If not, then when exactly do the consequences of NRS 318.197(3) come into play? Given here for the overwhelming majority of privately owned real properties which are assessed there is no such connection nor ability to connect, the simple fact of the matter is that no District owned recreation facility is furnished in consideration of payment of the RFF/BFF.

Yes we are mindful of the following language in ¶4(b) of the resolution⁵ adopted pursuant to NRS 318.201(9)⁹: “The Board specifically finds that…reduced rates for season passes and reduced daily rates…(at) IVGID’s beaches; boat launch ramp; Championship golf course; Mountain golf course; tennis facilities; the Chateau and Aspen Grove; Diamond Peak Ski Resort, and Recreation Center…are all benefits which inure to the owners of properties assessed hereunder.”¹⁰ However, “reduced rates” are different than no rates (i.e., user fees). And at the end of the day, picture passholders (“PPHs”), just like those who are not, end up paying user fees at essentially all District owned recreation facilities. Therefore, the RFF/BFF do not pay for the availability to access and use the District’s beach and recreation facilities which are furnished to people. Rather, they pay for nothing more than the right to be charged user fees at those facilities pursuant to a different fee schedule.

Just Because Current/Future District Boards May Tell Us The RFF/BFF Represent “Service charges…For Services or Facilities Furnished by The District” Standby And Service Charges⁸ (For)…The Availability of The Use⁹ of IVGID’s Beaches” And Other Delineated Public Recreation Facilities¹⁰, Won‘t Necessarily Make Them So: That’s because “the nature of a monetary exaction must be determined by its operation rather than its specially descriptive phrase.”²² And for this reason “courts will determine and classify (monetary exactions like the RFF/BFF) on the basis of realities”²³ rather than…labels, instead looking to their “operative effect.”²⁴ So with that said, let’s examine those “realities” and their “operative effect:”

The RFF/BFF Cannot Permissibly Represent Charges For Recreation Services Arguably Furnished by The District: Because NRS 318.197(1) instructs GID Board(s) “may fix…service charges…for services…furnished by the district,” one would have thought that the resolution the District adopts⁵ each year which adopts the RFF/BFF and elects to collect them on the county tax roll pursuant to NRS 318.201(9) would expressly recite that the RFF/BFF represent “charges for services…furnished by the district”²⁵. But it doesn’t. Yes at ¶4(b) of that resolution and ¶I of the report adopted⁹ pursuant to ¶6 of that resolution²⁶ the Board “specifically finds that the availability of the use of IVGID’s beaches; boat launch ramp; Championship golf course; Mountain golf course; tennis facilities; the Chateau and Aspen Grove; Diamond Peak Ski Resort, and Recreation Center…(or) the recreational facilities above described…are all benefits”²⁷ for which the RFF/BFF are levied. But none of these charges pays for furnished services per se. Rather, they pay for “the (mere) availability of…use” of those facilities. And besides, staff and the Board have expressly told the public that the RFF/BFF represent “standby service charges.”⁸ So why would anyone doubt them? To the extent that resolution is labeled one for “service charges,”²⁸ it is false.

Nor Can The RFF/BFF Permissibly Represent Charges For Recreation Facilities Arguably Furnished by The District: Similarly, because NRS 318.197(1) instructs that GID Board(s) “may fix…service charges…for…facilities furnished by the district,” one would have thought that the resolution the District adopts⁵ each year pursuant to NRS 318.201(9)⁹ would expressly recite that the RFF/BFF represent “charges for…facilities furnished.” But again, they don’t.

Yes at ¶4(b) of that resolution and ¶I of the report adopted⁹ pursuant to ¶6 of that resolution⁶² the Board “specifically finds that the availability of the use of IVGID’s beaches; boat launch ramp; Championship golf course; Mountain golf course; tennis facilities; the Chateau and Aspen Grove; Diamond Peak Ski Resort, and Recreation Center…(or) the recreational facilities above described…are all benefits”⁶³ for which the RFF/BFF are levied. But none of these charges pays for furnished facilities per se. Rather, they pay for “the (mere) availability of…use” of those facilities. And besides again, staff and the Board have expressly told the public that the RFF/BFF represent “standby…charges.”⁸ So why would anyone doubt them? To the extent that resolution is labeled one for “service charges,”²⁸ it is false.

Yes at ¶4(b) of that resolution³⁵ and ¶I of the report adopted via ¶6 of that resolution³² they recite that the Board “specifically finds that the availability of the use of IVGID’s beaches; boat launch ramp; Championship golf course; Mountain golf course; tennis facilities; the Chateau and Aspen Grove; Diamond Peak Ski Resort, and Recreation Center…(or) the recreational facilities above described…are all benefits”³⁵ for which the RFF/BFF are levied. But none of these charges pays for furnished facilities per se. Rather according to the Board, they pay for “the (mere) availability of…use.”

Nor Can The RFF/BFF Permissibly Represent “Charges For…(Beach or Other⁴² Recreation) Facilities Furnished by The District” Where No User Fees Are Charged: The District does not charge user fees at every one of its public recreation facilities²⁹. Notwithstanding, the District uses the RFF/BFF to subsidize overspending at all of those facilities. At the IVGID Board’s March 3, 2016 meeting former Finance Director Gerald Eick provided an “executive summary” in the “context…need(ed) for (then upcoming 2016-17) budget deliberations.” In that summary Mr. Eick presented a series of descriptive slides³⁰. Those slides depicted Mr. Eick’s testimony insofar as the alleged benefits of the RFF. Insofar as recreational venues where no user fee is assessed, Mr. Eick testified that because there is essentially no other “user fee process (available) to generate a source” of revenue other than the RFF to pay for the costs associated with these facilities, the owners of those properties which are assessed should consider the RFF to be a user fee substitute³¹.

Since the RFF/BFF don’t pay for access to and use of any of the District’s public recreation⁴² facilities where no user fees are charged, it’s disingenuous to label them “facility charges.” And we won’t!

Nor Can The RFF/BFF Represent “Charges For…(Beach or Other⁴² Recreation) Facilities Arguably Furnished by The District” Where User Fees Are Charged: Assuming the RFF/BFF are the “instrumentalities used in exchange for” access to and use of the District’s breach and other public recreation facilities, just like fees to compensate for beach/other recreation services, that’s not what the RFF/BFF pay for. Because independent user fees are charged at most of the District’s public recreation facilities³⁸, regardless of whether the RFF is paid. So the fact one pays the RFF/BFF doesn’t entitle him/her to actually use any of these facilities. And for this reason, it’s disingenuous to label them “facility charges.” And we won’t!

Nor Can The BFF Permissibly Represent “Charges For (Beach or Other⁴² Recreation) Services…(Allegedly) Furnished by The District:” Putting aside differences between the availability of services versus those for facilities (see discussion below), “fees imposed by a governmental entity tend to fall into one of two principal categories: user fees, based on the rights of the entity as a proprietor of the instrumentalities used, or regulatory fees (including licensing and inspection fees), founded on the police power to regulate particular businesses or activities.”³² Because here the District is a limited purpose special district devoid of municipal police powers, nor does it have the power to impose regulatory fees³³, by definition, its RFF/BFF must be a user fee. But here independent user fees are charged at most of the District’s public recreation facilities⁴², regardless of whether the RFF is paid³⁸. So the fact one pays the RFF, doesn’t entitle him/her to actually receive any of the “services” offered thereat.

Since the RFF/BFF don’t pay for access to and use of any of the District’s public recreation⁴² facilities where user fees are charged, nor do they receive any services offered thereat, it’s disingenuous to label them “service charges.” So we won’t!

Conclusion: ¶4 of the resolution the Board ultimately passes each year pursuant to NRS 318.201(9)⁹ which declares the RFF/BFF to be recreation and beach “service” charges is false. Its declaration they are “recreation standby…charges” for the mere “availability” to access and use beach and district owned recreation facilities is false. It seems pretty clear that some creative lawyers for IVGID¹³⁴, in its infancy, seized upon these artfully drafted words to justify the current, questionable funding source for essentially everything the District does. The fact of the matter is that there is no legitimate justification for the RFF/BFF, whether they be: NRS 318.197(1): “standby service charges for services…(allegedly) furnished by the district;” “standby service charges…for…facilities (allegedly) furnished by the district;” “charges for the availability of facilities;” or any other exaction given the RFF/BFF do not meet the minimum requisites for legitimate standby service charges staff/prior Boards represent/have represented. Thus, the RFF/BFF cannot be nor are they legitimate standby service charges.

1. Service charges…for services…furnished by the District;”

2. Service charges…for…facilities furnished by the District;”

3. Standby service charges, for services…furnished by the District;”

4. Standby service charges, for…facilities furnished by the District;” and,

5. Charges for the availability of service.”

So let’s examine each of these charges.

What Are “Standby Service Charges?” Since this subject is thoroughly examined at our What is a Standby Service Charge page, we refer the reader to this linked discussion. But for purposes of definition, they represent: some sort of monetary levy against and of direct benefit to real property³⁴; imposed for the mere availability to access and receive water and/or sewer³⁵ service(s)³⁶; where those services are delivered or capable of delivery to the real property assessed; and, that property is not a water and/or sewer customer. 

What Are Standby Facility Charges? There is no such beast. Take a long look at NRS 318.197(1). Although you will find “standby service charges,” you will not find comparable standby facility charges.

What Does The Term “Availability of“ Services or Facilities Mean? “The ordinary meaning of (the word) ‘available’ is ‘capable of use for the accomplishment of a purpose.'” Thus the provider of a service or facility must have “adequate capacity present or ready for immediate use” in order to assess a charge for the “availability” of services or facilities³⁷.

Nor Do They Represent Standby Charges For Those Services⁴⁹: NRS 318.197(1) instructs GID Board(s) “may fix…standby service charges for services…furnished by the district.” But because the District furnishes no “services” in consideration of payment of the RFF/BFF³⁸, regardless of whether the RFF/BFF is paid, it is user fees which pay for the recreation services the District furnishes at those facilities. And if the RFF/BFF do not pay for the recreation services the District furnishes, how can they pay for the availability to access and receive any services, let alone water and/or sewer ones? 

And The RFF/BFF Do Not Represent Charges For The Availability of Recreation Services Arguably Furnished by The District: Although NRS 318.197(1) allows GID Boards to “fix…charges, for…the availability of service,” the District tells us that the RFF/BFF represent charges “for the availability of use of…recreational facilities.”³⁹ Moreover, if the District furnishes no recreation services to those real properties which are assessed, how then can it legitimately assess the RFF/BFF for the alleged “availability” to access and use those services.

And The RFF/BFF Do Not Represent Charges For The Availability of Recreation Facilities Arguably Furnished by The District: If the District furnishes no recreation facilities to those real properties which are assessed, how then can it legitimately assess the RFF/BFF for the alleged “availability” to access and use those facilities²⁵? Moreover, in order to legitimately assess standby service charges for the availability to access and use a service, the provider must have “adequate capacity present or ready for immediate use.” Where as here it doesn’t, “no standby fee c(an) lawfully be assessed”⁴⁰? We don’t think it can.

Nor Are They “Standby Charges…For The Availability of (Beach or Other⁴² Recreation) Service(s):” If the RFF/BFF do not pay for services furnished by the District, then how can they pay for the alleged “availability” of those services? Since they don’t, we won’t!

Nor Are They “Standby Charges…For The Availability of” Beach or Other Recreation Facilities: From the history above it can be seen that although GIDs have had the power to fix “standby charges” or “standby service charges” since 1967, that power really finds its genesis in rates, tolls and charges for services rather than any facilities, and sewer services rather than recreation ones. Moreover, when the power to fix “charges for the availability of service” was given to County Board, it’s noteworthy the power to fix “charges for the availability of facilities” was never given⁴¹! This omission means that the power to fix rates, tolls and charges for the “availability of facilities” was never intended to be included⁴² in the types of fees a GID could legitimately adopt. Since this is the alleged justification for the District’s RFF/BFF⁹, hopefully the reader sees there is no justification.

Nor Are They “Standby Charges…For The Availability of (Beach or Other⁴² Recreation) Service(s):” If the RFF/BFF do not pay for services furnished by the District, then how can they pay for the alleged “availability” of those services? Since they don’t, we won’t!

1. See page 102 of the packet of materials prepared by staff in anticipation of the Board of Trustee’s (“Board’s”) May 27, 2020 meeting (“the 5/27/2020 Board packet”).
2. Which allows general improvement district (“GID”) boards to “fix (in part)…recreational facilit(y)…standby service charges, for…the (mere) availability of” facilities
3. Which allows “any (GID) board which has adopted rates pursuant to…chapter (NRS 318 to)…elect to have such charges for the forthcoming fiscal year collected on the tax roll.”
4. See page 103 of the 5/27/2020 Board packet.
5. See NRS 318.201(9). For an example of the type of resolution, see pages 185-193 of the packet of materials prepared by staff in anticipation of the Board’s May 26, 2021 meeting (“the 5/26/2021 Board packet“).
6. An example of that report (for fiscal year 2021-22) appears at pages 188-193 of the 5/26/2022 Board packet.
7. See NRS 318.201(8) and (9).
8. See ¶4 at pages 185-186 of the 5/26/2021 Board packet.
9. See ¶4(b) at page 186 as well as ¶I at page 190 of the 5/26/2021 Board packet.
10. The District’s recreation venues are operated as commercial “for profit” business enterprises.
11. Go to https://oboloo.com/blog/what-are-services-definition/.
12. See NRS 318.143(3).
13. See Rider v. County of San Diego, 1 Cal.4th 1, 15, 820 P.2d 10 (1991).
14. That’s right. Best Buy has entered the pay a fee and become a member game. It’s called My Best Buy Plus and Total Memberships. Pay a yearly fee (either $49.99 for “Plus” membership, or $179.99 for “Total” membership), become a member, and now you’re entitled to preferred (i.e., “exclusive”) access and preferred “member pricing!”
15. The last such letter staff published was dated May 23, 2018, and it can be found at pages 10-18 of the 2018-19 Budget. Once members of the public learned of this admission and publicized it as evidence the RFF/BFF are “taxes” rather than “fees,” uncoincidentally, it ceased to exist.
16. In other words, staff have admitted by means of conduct that the RFF pays for nothing more than up to five (5) membership cards. Since membership in something benefits people rather than property, here the beneficiaries of the membership cards the RFF pay for are people.
17. Go to https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/wealth-management/service-charge/.https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/wealth-management/service-charge/.
18. See that “Report For Collection on the County Tax Roll of Recreation Standby and Service Charges.”⁶
19. See ¶7 at page 190 of the 5/26/2021 Board packet.
20. Legitimate fees “are charged in exchange for a particular governmental service which benefits the party paying the fee in a manner ‘not shared by other members of society’” [see National Cable Television Ass’n, Inc. v. F.C.C., 554 F.2d 1094, 1106 (D.C. Cir. 1976); Emerson College, supra, at 391 Mass. 424; Clean Water Coalition, supra, at 127 Nev. 315]. Here the party paying the RFF/BFF (i.e., real property) is not the one benefited
21. This view comports with the definition of standby service charge provided above. That is, that the available service must be physically connected or immediately adjacent and capable of connection to those real properties which are assessed.
22. See Emerson College v. City of Boston, 39 Mass. 415, 424, 462 N.E.2d 1098, 1105 (1984).
23. See Hukle v. City of Huntington, 134 W.Va. 249, 58 S.E.2d 780, 783 (1950).
24. See Emerson College, Id.
25. After all, staff and the Board label the RFF/BFF, in part, “Recreation…Service Charges” (see pages 228 and 232-233 of the 5/26/2022 Board packet).
26. See page 190 of the 5/26/2022 Board packet.
27. But a “special benefit” is one particular to the payer rather than to the general public as a whole [see Silicon Valley Taxpayers Ass’n., Inc. (SVTA) v. Santa Clara County Open Space Authority, 44 Cal.4th 431, 441-442, 187 P.3d 37, 44-45 (2008)]. Here the alleged special benefit furnished is to the general public as a whole.
28. See ¶4 of that resolution at page 229 and pages 232-233 of the 5/26/2022 Board packet.
29. Besides its public parks and athletic fields, other examples include: its disc golf course, skateboard park, mountain bike pump track, fitness track, beach overflow parking lot, The Grille Restaurant or the restaurant at the Mountain Golf Course, the Championship or Mountain Golf Course pro shops, and other miscellaneous lesser venues.
30. See pages 127 and 129 of the packet of materials prepared by staff in anticipation of the Board’s March 3, 2016 special meeting (“the 3/3/2016 Board packet”).
31. The Board livestreams its meetings (see http://new.livestream.com/accounts/3411104). The portion of the Board’s March 3, 2016 meeting (“the 3/3/2016 livestream”) where Mr. Eick gave the testimony represented can be viewed at 29:24-29:38 of the 3/3/2016 livestream.
32. See Emerson College, supra, at 391 Mass. 424; State v. Medeiros, 89 Haw. 361, 973 P.2d 736, 741 (1999); Clean Water Coalition v. The M Resort, LLC, 127 Nev. 301, 315, 255 P.3d 247 (2011).
33. See our What Powers May GIDs Exercise discussion.
34. Rather than people.
35. Rather than recreation.
36. Rather than facilities.
37. See McMillan v. Texas National Resources Conservation Comm’n, 983 S.W.2d 359, 363 (1998).
38. Because user fees are charged at most of the District’s public recreation facilities [see ¶104(b) of Ordinance 7].
39. See ¶I at page 234 of the 5/26/2022 Board packet.
40. See McMillan, supra, at 983 S.W.2d 365.
41. This distinction is noteworthy given according to staff and previous boards, the RFF/BFF allegedly represent standby services charges for the “availability of use of the recreational facilities (more particularly) described” in the Report the Board adopts each year1 pursuant to NRS 318.201(9).
42. See the latin maxim expressio unius est exclusio alterius which means that “where a…statute specifies certain things, the designation of such things excludes all others” [see Local 1494 of Int’l Ass’n of Firefighters v. City of Coeur d’Alene, 99 Idaho 630, 639, 586 P.2d 1346, 1355 (1978)]. Thus, if a statute…mentions certain things specifically, the list is exclusive.”