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 (NRS 318.201³) process(es) set forth in (the) Nevada Revised Statutes (“NRS”)…which establish…the amount of the…RFF and…BFF to be collected.”⁴ “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 Although that resolution and report describe the RFF/BFF, in part, as “service charges⁸…for…the (mere) availability of the use of IVGID’s beaches” and other delineated public recreation facilities⁹, since the statutory authority for these “fees” is the broader NRS 318.197 which includes “rates, tolls or charges…for services or facilities furnished by the District,” here we answer the question what are “rates, tolls or charges…for (those) services or facilities?”

Rates, Tolls And Charges Are “User Fees?” “A user fee is a charge imposed by the government for the primary purpose of covering the cost of providing a service (or access to a facility), directly raising funds from the people who benefit from the particular public good or service being provided.”¹⁰ In terms of NRS 318.197, it is a “rate…toll or charge…for services or facilities furnished by the district.” Because user fees are charged at most of the District’s public recreation facilities¹¹, regardless of whether the RFF/BFF are paid, it is user fees which pay for the recreation services and access to the recreation facilities the District furnishes. Not the RFF/BFF.

So there you go. Charges for access to and use of the facilities and services the District furnishes, are known as user fees!

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)…rates, tolls and charges (in general)…for services or facilities furnished by the district.
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. Go to https://taxfoundation.org/taxedu/glossary/user-fee/).
11. See ¶104(b) of Ordinance 7.