Given the Incline Village General Improvement District (“IVGID”) tells us its Recreation (“RFF”) and Beach (“BFF”) Facility Fees represent

“Service charges¹…(for) 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,”²

NRS 318.197(1) instructs that general improvement district (“GID”) Boards have the power to

“Fix, and from time to time increase or decrease…recreational facilit(y)…rates, tolls or charges³ other than special assessments, including, but not limited to, service charges…for services or facilities furnished by the district, (and) charges for the availability of service,” and

The definitions of “service charges”⁴ and “availability of use” charges⁵,

Here we ask whether the RFF/BFF represent “service charges…for the availability of” the District’s beaches and public recreation facilities? And for the reasons which follow, the answer is an emphatic “NO!”

Service charges “are additional charges⁶ related to the purchase of…(a) product…service” or facility” itself. Availability of use charges represent

In other words, “service charges” and “availability of use” charges are really two different kinds of monetary exaction⁷. Whereas the former are additional “fee(s) collected to pay for services related to (a)…product or service being purchased” added to the charge for the product or service itself, the latter are exactions for the product or service itself⁸

And now you know!

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The Power to Exempt Property From Assessment – “The general rule is that the express power to assess does not give the power to exempt property from the assessment. There must be express constitutional or statutory authority so to do⁹. We have held our Constitutional exemption from taxation, Article VIII, § 3, does not apply to special assessments¹⁰. (Since) no statute has been called to our attention which would authorize these exemptions…they are, therefore, unauthorized. See Chapman v. City of Albuquerque, 65 N.M. 228, 236, 335 P.2d 558, 561 (1959).

[Chapman, supra, 335 P.2d 563]. Because here there is none, preemption, infra, prohibits Respondent from making up its own exemptions, and the RFF/BFF are involuntarily assessed/collected, they are taxes [Storrie Project Water User’s Ass’n. v. Gonzales (1949) 53 N.M. 421, 427, 209 P.2d 530, 534; Lake Arthur Drainage Dist. v. Board of Com’rs. of Chaves County (1924) 29 N.M. 219, 223, 222 P. 389, 390; Town of Clayton v. Colorado & S.R. Co., 51 F.2d 977, 980 (10th Cir. 1931)].

1. See ¶4 of the Board’s annual resolution [see the staff memorandum which typically accompanies its request the RFF/BFF be adopted and collected on the county tax roll (by way of example, see that May 30, 2025 staff memorandum supporting possible approval of a resolution approving the Report for collection of Recreation Standby and Service Charges for fiscal year 2025/2026)] which recites that “each year, the District establishes an annual Recreation Facility Fee and Beach Facility Fee” which adopts the RFF/BFF and orders their collection on the county tax roll (for an example of that resolution, the reader is directed to Resolution No. 1917 adopted May 30, 2025).
2. See ¶4(b) of Resolution No. 1917 as well as ¶I of the the Report For Collection on The County Tax Roll of Recreation Standby And Service Charges which is adopted at ¶6 of Resolution No. 1917.
3. The term “rates, tolls or 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; and, 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 our What Are “Service Charges” discussion.
5. See our What Are Availability of Use Charges discussion.
6. In addition to the primary, standard or basic fee [see Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com].
7. If they weren’t, why would the District use different names for the same kinds of charges?
8. That is, “for the (mere) availability of use.”
9. See Storrie Project Water User’s Ass’n v. Gonzales, 53 N.M. 421, 209 P.2d 530 (1949); Town of Clayton v. Colorado S.R. Co., 51 F.2d 977, 82 A.L.R. 417 (10th Cir. 1931); 14 McQuillin 207-211, § 38.80.
10. Lake Arthur Drainage Dist. v. Board of Com’rs of Chaves County, 29 N.M. 219, 222 P. 389 (1924) and the 1946 amendment thereto expresses this policy.