As we’ve elsewhere demonstrated, the District has told us the RFF/BFF represent:

1. “Recreation standby and service charges;”

2. Levied and collected against real property;

3. “For the (mere) availability of the use of IVGID’s beaches” and various public recreation facilities;

4. Where for actual use of those facilities, the user is required to pay user fees at those facilities and only then, does he/she realize “reduced rates for season passes and…daily rates;”

5. Which when “combined with (actual operational) service charges collected…for facility use and program activities…serve to (financially) support…operations of the District funded by (its) Community Services…and Beach Fund(s)¹.”

But instead of calling the RFF/BFF what staff and past/current Boards have told us they are (i.e., “standby service charges”), they call them something far more sanguine; “facility fees.”² Because this labeling is false, and staff and past/current Boards know it is false, here we address the reasons why.

There’s no question NRS 318.197(1) allows GID Boards to fix, increase and decrease “rates, tolls (and)…charges.”³ And in adopting the RFF/BFF, that’s exactly what they’ve done⁴. Notwithstanding, GID Boards are not permitted to adopt any kinds of “fees” whatsoever⁵. The kinds of fees they’re permitted to fix are described in NRS 318.197(1), as construed by Dillon’s Rule⁶ and judicial decisions⁷.

“Standby service charges, for…the availability of service” are rates and charges expressly recognized by NRS 318.197(1)⁸. Moreover, they’re the only “fees” which can be involuntarily assessed and collected⁸. But staff and past/current Boards know there’s nothing in NRS 318.197(1) which expressly recognizes “standby service charges…for…the availability of” facilities. True, NRS 318.197(1) recognizes a basket of other unidentified (i.e., “not limited to”) rates, tolls and charges. But nowhere other than Incline Village are “standby service charges…for…the availability of” recreation facilities⁹ recognized.

Moreover, although NRS 318.197(1) recognizes “standby service charges…for…the availability of service,” the only “services” for which this rate and charge can be assessed, are: those available to real property; and, those addressing public health and sanitation⁹. Given public recreation facilities furnished to people (rather than property) have nothing to do with public health and sanitation, staff and past/current Boards know the RFF/BFF do not represent “standby service charges.”

Staff and past/current Boards also know that if the above facts were fully explained¹⁰ to members of our community, most would likely question the legitimacy of the RFF/BFF. So for these reasons, by design, staff and past/current Boards call them “facility fees.” Which are expressly recognized by NRS 318.197(1) as “charge(s)…for…facilities furnished by the district.” This is the very reason why Trustee Homan has proclaimed¹¹ “on the record a number of times…(that) the fees are specifically allowable under paragraph 197 of NRS 318.”

Because the RFF/BFF are the “labels” artfully affixed to the subject monetary exactions¹², is there any doubt then they were selected “with [NRS 318.197(1)‘s ‘standby and service charge’ language] firmly in mind?”¹³ And exactly, who are we to take issue with staff’s and current/past IVGID Boards’ labeling?

Furthermore, why would we expect staff and past/current Boards to call the RFF/BFF what they really are (i.e. taxes¹⁴) when the only taxes a GID may assess and collect¹⁵ are ad valorem¹⁶? And given the RFF/BFF are assessed uniformly in amount against every eligible parcel/dwelling unit within the District’s boundaries¹⁷, and not based upon assessed valuation¹⁸, there’s nothing ad valorem about the RFF/BFF.

Finally, it turns out past staff and Boards have unwittingly admitted the RFF/BFF are not the “fees” they represent. As have their last two sets of auditors and the accounting, consulting, and wealth management behemoth MossAdams¹⁹. Rather than reciting those numerous admissions, the reader is directed to our Admissions by Past Directors, Auditors And Consultants That The RFF/BFF Are Not The Fees Represented discussion.

Because of the District’s Machiavellian²⁰ philosophy²¹, staff are trying to run a GID here. So if the District cannot levy and collect the type of RFF/BFF its Board insists in collecting, while staff refuse to reduce their intentional overspending, from what other revenue source(s) can the District look to tap to generate the sums required to make the District’s public recreation facilities “available” for the primary use of the “inhabitants…of (Incline Village, Crystal Bay) and of the State of Nevada?”²²

And now you know!

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1. For a better understanding of the District’s various reporting funds, the reader is directed to our Understanding The District’s Funds Structure discussion.
2. For the definition of “facility fees,” we refer the reader to our What Are Facility Fees discussion.
3. The term “rates, tolls and charges” represents different names for “specific services” for which “fixed price(s are) charged (see https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fee.asp). According to an AI search, a “rate is a fixed fee or cost per unit of service (often used for utilities like water or electricity). A toll is a fee paid for the use of a specific road, bridge, or tunnel, typically collected at designated points. A charge is a fee imposed for a service or product, which can vary based on usage or specific conditions.” The common denominator here being that all are fees!
4. See Trustee Homan’s argument at the Board’s May 30, 2025 meeting” [2:05:27-1:56:47 of the livestream of the Board’s May 30, 2025 meeting (“the 5/30/2025 livestream“)].
5. Especially ones which have no support in any other municipality.
6. See our Fees GIDs May Fix discussion.
7. See our How Courts Instruct We Construe Statutes discussion.
8. See our Circumstances Under Which The Paid by Choice Pillar Can Be Disregarded discussion.
9. See our What Are “Standby Service Charges For…The Availability of” Facilities discussion.
10. Given the District maintains a Facility Fee FAQ page, why wouldn’t staff fully explain?
11. At the Board’s May 27, 2026 meeting Trustee Homan took the opportunity to respond to public comment which stated nothing is furnished to those real properties which are involuntarily assessed the RFF/BFF. The District livestreams its Board meetings. And Trustee Homan’s response appears at 1:44:00-1:45:39 of the livestream for that meeting (“the 5/27/2026 livestream“).
12. In other words, “do as I say, not as I do” (go to https://www.pvbc.com/blog/2015/11/17/do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do-proverbs-47).
13. See Rider v. County of San Diego, 1 Cal.4th 1, 15, 820 P.2d 10 (1991).
14. See our Are The RFF/BFF Really Taxes discussion.
15. See NRS 361.445 which instructs that “assessment(s) made by the county assessor and…the Department (of Taxation), as equalized according to law, shall be the only basis for property taxation by any…district.”
16. See NRS 318.225 and 318.230.
17. See ¶1.0 of Policy No. 16.1.1 which instructs “the Incline Village General Improvement District will charge the prescribed Recreation Fee, and if applicable the Beach Fee, to all qualifying real properties.”
18. “An ad valorem tax on real property describes a general tax levy which applies a given rate to the assessed valuation of all taxable property within a particular taxing district” [see Solvang Mun. Improvement Dist. v. Board of Supervisors, 112 Cal.App.3d 545, 552, 169 Cal.Rptr. 391 (1980)].
19. Which merged with Baker Tilly in June of 2025.
20. “A trait characterized by manipulativeness, deceitfulness, high levels of self-interest, and a tendency to see other people as means to an end. People who display especially elevated levels of Machiavellianism…lack empathy and take a cynical, unemotional view of the world; their primary interests center on power and status, and they’ll do whatever is necessary to achieve their goals” (see https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/machiavellianism).
21. Rather than the District’s mantra of “one district, one team” (go to https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/about-ivgid/mission-vision), its real mantra should be as we’ve observed. Because as the reader will see, this is what guides the District regardless of what the law instructs.
22. See NRS 318.015(1).