As elsewhere stated, Crystal Bay Development Co. (“CBDC”) sold all of its remaining Incline Village lands but for the beaches to Boise Cascade on June 4, 1967. “One of (Boise Cascade’s)…major interests (at the time)…was…real estate speculation and recreational land development…Hoping to sell this property to large investors, the company met with little success and was forced to revise its strategy and develop the land itself into residential and recreational areas…(But) by 1970…the company’s land development business was in serious trouble, accumulating losses that placed the entire organization in jeopardy.”¹ On October 12, 1971 the California Attorney General filed an action on behalf of all persons who had purchased property in Boise Cascade’s recreational development at Incline Village, Nevada, for civil penalties and exemplary damages against Boise Cascade². Although this case was subsequently settled², “in an attempt to reverse its losses, Boise Cascade wrote off a significant portion of its real estate holdings and divested its residential housing operation, along with other assets judged to be inadequate performers or lying too far outside the company’s core business areas.”¹

The Push For The District to Acquire And Develop Public Parks: Meanwhile, and as elsewhere explained, there was an organic push at the time for the District to use its new found power to acquire facilities for public recreation to construct parks and athletic fields³. This push was fueled by the fact that Washoe County was conducting a county-wide public recreation study at the time intended to identify possible venues for development. In December of 1971 this push resulted in the creation of a local ad hoc Recreation Committee⁴ consisting of thirty (30) concerned Incline Village citizens⁵. The Committee’s goal was to identify approximately fifty (50) acres in the growing community of Incline Village as a “core recreation” center for possible park acquisition and development⁶. And over the months which followed, the Committee made regular reports on its progress and recommendations to the IVGID Board.

Acquisition: On or about October 3, 1977, after the Lemer case had worked its way through a good portion of the appeal process, Boise Cascade Home and Land Corporation (“Boise-Cascade”) chose to sell approximately 93½ acres of unimproved Incline Village “core area” land to the District. The land was bordered by Tahoe Blvd. to the north, Country Club Drive to the east, Incline Way to the south and Village Blvd. to the west. Meanwhile, the District had come to the conclusion that its playbook for funding acquisition of the beaches had worked so well, it could venture even further into the public recreation acquisition and development arena. And as elsewhere stated, one of the first beneficiaries became the District’s purchase of Incline Village’s two golf courses and The Chateau in mid-1976. Followed shortly thereafter by its purchase of Ski Incline (now known as Diamond Peak). And followed barely a year thereafter (mid-1977) by what became its “core” recreation property⁷.

Approximately 67 of those “core” acres (four separate parcels) were sold to Mansel and Patricia Ocheltree so they could donate a portion (two separate “active recreation properties” totaling approximately 31.2 acres) to IVGID and realize income tax benefits. And the remaining adjacent approximate “26.60 acres more or less” were sold to the Incline Village General Improvement District (“IVGID”) outright. IVGID’s purchase of these 26.6 acres was accomplished contemporaneously with the Ocheltree’s purchase of its 67 acres. And the purchase price paid by IVGID was $1.25 million⁸. These lands combined (roughly 58 acres⁶) encompass those lands underneath today’s Tennis Center, the Washoe County School District’s (“WCSD’s”) middle school, Incline Park, the Skateboard Park, the Disc Golf Course, the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitor’s Authority’s (“RSCVA’s) Visitor’s Center on Tahoe Blvd., the Parasol Building, and a portion of the lands underneath the Recreation Center.

So Where Did IVGID’s Acquisition Monies Come From? On December 8, 1977 the Board adopted Resolution No. 1293 which authorized “a TEMPORARY Interfund Loan…of $1,250,000 from the (District’s) Project 69-2 Capital Improvement Fund.”⁹ This loan was supposed to be repaid “no later than December 1, 1978” from what former GM Kermit McMillin explained to the IVGID Board on September 8, 1977 would either be: short-term financing from a bank; the sale of additional Recreation Revenue Bonds; or, “there was the possibility of Federal or State acquisition monies…providing 75% of the acquisition costs…from the State Park System who administer those funds.” Ultimately, and after rolling over short term temporary financing, payment ended up coming from the issuance of additional Recreation Revenue Bonds; the District’s Recreation Revenue Bonds of 1981¹⁰.

And Where Did the Monies Come From to Repay The Recreation Revenue Bonds of 1981? “Both principal and interest (we)re payable solely from the Net Revenues pledged to the payment (t)hereof…as described and defined in…Resolution No. 1262 (adopted July 29, 1976), as amended” (see the terms of the Recreation Revenue Bonds of 1981). And what were those “net revenues pledged?” ¶9.03 of Resolution No. 1262 tells us establishment of the Recreation Facility Fee (“RFF”). And ¶9.34 of Resolution No. 1262 pledges the proceeds thereof, in accordance with NRS 318.197(1), as “the revenue (source) for the payment of any indebtedness…of the district.” In other words, the RFF!

So Where Did the Recreation Center’s Construction Monies Come From? In addition to accessing District 9 funds¹³ as the principal funding source for construction of the Rec Center (see discussion below), on January 26, 1989 Washoe County and the District entered into an “Inter-Governmental Agreement” for the “ownership…construct(ion,) operation…maintenance…access to the…Incline Village Community Center…by the general public, and other matters” (collectively “the Community Center agreement”¹¹). In part, the Community Center agreement created:

1. An agreement whereby the “County…(would) use…the District 9 Fund…to construct a…Community Center in Incline Village;”

2. An agreement for “access to the (Community Center) by the general public, and other matters;”

3. An agreement whereby the “County…(w)ould (contribute its)…land, fronting Incline Way (approximately 16.17 acres, more or less¹²)…as a site for the” Community Center;

4. An agreement whereby IVGID would contribute its “neighboring land…as a site for the” Community Center;

5. An agreement whereby “IVGID…accept(ed) the financial and administrative responsibilit(ies) of operating and maintaining the” Community Center;

6. “An arrangement whereby IVGID w(ould) serve as the lead agency for design and construction of the” Community Center; and,

7. Mutual “understandings about the ownership, operation and maintenance of the” Community Center.

Where the Construction Monies Came From: Washoe County assesses a residential construction tax on the development of all county parcels¹³. “The purpose of the tax is to raise revenue to enable…cities and counties to provide neighborhood parks and facilities for parks”¹⁴ such as “turf, trees, irrigation, playground apparatus, playing fields, areas to be used for organized amateur sports, play areas, picnic areas, horseshoe pits and other recreational equipment or appurtenances designed to serve the natural persons, families and small groups from the neighborhood from which the tax was collected.”¹⁵ In Incline Village the proceeds of this tax are known as “District 9” funds¹³.

According to the county, as of January 1, 1989 it had “$3.2 million, more or less,” of District 9 funds¹⁶ available to be used for Incline Village neighborhood parks and facilities for parks. The Community Center agreement guaranteed the “County…(would) use…District 9 Fund(s)…to construct a (substantial portion of the)…Community Center in Incline Village.” But like nearly everything else the District does, $3.2 million wasn’t enough. So on June 26, 1980 the Board adopted Resolution No. 1375 which authorized the issuance of $3.6 million of additional general obligation bonds (“GOBs”). The proceeds of these bonds were intended to fund “acquisition and construction of (the) swimming pool and community center complex” at the Rec Center, phases 1 and 2. We don’t know if there was additional funding for phases 3 and beyond, but so far, the reader can see that nearly $7 million was spent in Rec Center construction costs¹⁷.

Restricted Use: Initially, all of the lands acquired by the District from Boise-Cascade and the Ocheltrees were subject to recorded Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions (“CC&Rs”) which mandated “the propert(ies would) be used only for park…recreational and related purposes and for no other purposes.”¹⁸

Once the District entered into the Community Center agreement with the County, that agreement subjected the future Rec Center to additional perpetual restrictions. Those restrictions included: “The (Community Center would)…be constructed on (specified) publicly owned land within the area of Incline Village;”¹⁹ “All project facilities, and services provided therein…(would) be open to the general public (and)…provided without regard to race, religion, creed, color, sex, age, national origin, place of residence, or status as a property owner or non-property owner;”²⁰ “IVGID (would)…manage, operate and maintain the (Community Center) year round…(And) the level of operation and maintenance (would not) fall below the level prevailing in other recreation facilities managed by the County.”²¹

Once those lands upon which the Rec Center was to be constructed were augmented by conveyance of the County’s 16.17 acres, NRS 278.497, et seq. came into play by imposing additional perpetual restrictions: “All residential construction taxes collected pursuant to the provisions of…section [NRS 278.4983(1)] and any ordinance enacted by (the)…board of county commissioners, and all interest accrued on the money, (was required to) be placed with the…county treasurer in a special fund…Th(at) fund (could) only be used for: (a) the acquisition, improvement and expansion of neighborhood parks; or, (b) the installation or improvement of facilities in existing or neighborhood parks²² in the…county…attributable to the new construction or development for which the money was collected. Money in the fund (had to) be expended within the park district from which it was collected and (could) not be expended for maintenance or operational expense” purposes²³.

Thus the October 22, 1997 deed from the County memorialized these and other restrictions: “Grantor….specifically convey(s) a determinable fee²⁴ and reserve(s the) possibility of reverter. If Grantee fail(s), at any time, to use the property for recreation consistent with NRS 278.497, et seq., or fail(s) to maintain the property, and all facilities and services provided therein, open to the general public, without regard to race, religion, creed, color, sex, age, national origin, place of residence, or status as a property owner or non-property owner…title to the property (will) revert to Grantor or its successors.”

Conclusion: So now you know how and when IVGID acquired the Rec Center!

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1. Go to http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/boise-cascade-corporation-history/.
2. See Lemer v. Boise Cascade, Inc., 107 Cal. App. 3d 1, 4, 165 Cal.Rptr. 555 (1980).
3. Recall that when IVGID sought public recreation powers from the Washoe County Board of Commissioners (“the County Board”), its Board representative, Harold Tiller, expressly represented that if granted, this new basic power would not be exercised to acquire nor operate any of the many contemplated recreational facilities except pubic parks [see pages 159-160 of the packet of materials prepared by staff in anticipation of the Board’s May 27, 2020 meeting (“the 5/27/2020 Board packet”)] including the beaches. So considering the acquisition of public parks was in line with what had been represented.
4. At the Board’s April 26, 1973 meeting the Committee was formally recognized (see Resolution 1135) as a Board created Recreation Advisory Committee (see the minutes of the Board’s March 8, 1973 meeting).
5. See the minutes of the Board’s November 30, 1972 meeting.
6. Interestingly, the District’s acquisition of roughly 58 acres of land from Boise Cascade and the Ocheltrees (see discussion below) for park and recreation purposes, filled the bill.
7. See https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/about-ivgid/history-of-ivgid. 
8. Given this purchase was accomplished via a series of loans, and ultimately $2 million of Recreation Revenue Bonds of 1981¹⁰ (see discussion below) replaced those loans, a persuasive argument can be made that the purchase price paid for these 26.6 acres was actually $2 million!
9. This fund was created to deposit assessments levied against local parcel owners for public sewer improvements (see Resolution No. 619) adopted by the IVGID Board on May 8,1969.
10. “On November 30, 1978, (the IVGID Board) adopted its Resolution No. 1332, wherein (it) authorized the issuance, sale and delivery of $2,000,000 (worth)…of Interim Debentures (at an interest rate of 13.01%)…to pay the costs of acquisition of certain park facilities (i.e., the land for construction of the Rec Center) and expenses incidental to the issuance thereof…in anticipation of the issuance of Recreation Revenue Bonds of 1979 [such Bonds (t)herein being redesignated (the) ‘Recreation Revenue Bonds of 1981’] as such Resolution has been amended from time to time thereafter…(and) the proceeds of the Recreation Revenue Bonds of 1981 (‘the total aggregate principal amount of $2,000,000’ we)re to…pay ($1,937,800) and redeem at maturity (November 28, 1983) the Interim Debentures” above (see Resolution No. 1413 adopted January 8, 1982).
11. This agreement was filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on May 12, 1989.
12. See October 22, 1997 deed recorded (document no. 2147124) against APN 127-040-07.
13. The authority for this assessment is NRS 278.4983(1) which states “the city council of any city or the board of county commissioners of any county which has adopted a master plan and recreation plan, as provided in this chapter, which includes, as a part of the plan, future or present sites for neighborhood parks may, by ordinance, impose a residential construction tax pursuant to this section…If imposed, [NRS 278.4983(2) instructs that] the residential construction tax must be imposed on the privilege of constructing apartment houses and residential dwelling units, and developing mobile home lots in th(os)e respective cities and counties.”
14. See NRS 278.4983(3).
15. See NRS 278.4983(8)(a).
16. See ¶1.4 of the Community Center agreement.
17. ¶1.3 of the Community Center agreement estimated that cost at “$3.5 million to $4.5 million”.
18. But there was a fifty (50) year limitation on those restrictions which is scheduled to toll sometime in 2027.
19. See ¶1.2 of the Community Center agreement.
20. See ¶5.1 of the Community Center agreement.
21. See ¶5.8 of the Community Center agreement.
22. According to NRS 278.4983(8)(c), “site(s) not exceeding 25 acres, designed to serve the recreational and outdoor needs of natural persons, families and small groups.”
23. See NRS 278.4983(5).
24. “A determinable fee simple estate is one that automatically terminates upon the occurrence of a specified event or the cessation of use for a specified purpose and will revert to the grantor without any entry or other act…Upon the creation of a determinable fee simple estate the grantor retains an interest known as a ‘possibility of reverter’ which is both alienable and devisable” [See Willhite v. Masters, 965 S.W.2d 406, 409 (Mo. Ct. App. 1998)].