Funtime, Inc. v. Wilkins

822 N.E.2d 781, 105 Ohio St. 3d 74
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided December 22, 2004·No. No. 2003-0622·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinions

Francis E. Sweeney, Sr., J.

{¶ 1} This case concerns whether certain property owned by Funtime, Inc. should be classified as real or personal property. For the reasons set forth below, we find that the property should be classified as personal property.

{¶ 2} During the 1995-1997 audit period, appellant, Funtime, Inc. (“Funtime”), owned and operated what was then called Geauga Lake Amusement Park. This appeal involves three rides located in the amusement park: Grizzly Run, Mind Eraser, and Skyscraper. In addition, the tax status of the station houses for the Grizzly Run and Mind Eraser rides is in question.

{¶ 3} Grizzly Run (a.k.a. River Rapids) is a water ride intended to simulate a white-water rafting experience. Funtime contracted with High-Tech Pools, Inc. to build the sides and bottom of the concrete flumes. In addition, Funtime contracted with Strait Bilt Construction Company to add a finish to the flumes and surrounding areas to simulate rocks and boulders. The Grizzly Run ride sits directly on the ground, and the ride cannot be disassembled and moved.

{¶ 4} Mind Eraser is basically a roller coaster. Funtime contracted with Industrial First, Inc. to erect Mind Eraser. Mind Eraser is affixed to concrete footings that are embedded in the ground, and the ride cannot be moved.

{¶ 5} The Grizzly Run and Mind Eraser station houses are places from which patrons enter and exit Grizzly Run and Mind Eraser.

{¶ 6} Skyscraper consists of a doughnut-shaped glass enclosure that holds customers and rotates as it is raised around a tower. Millar Elevator Service provided repair services for Skyscraper.

{¶ 7} The Tax Commissioner issued a use-tax assessment against Funtime, classifying Grizzly Run, Mind Eraser, and Skyscraper as personal property. The [75]*75portion of the assessment relating to Grizzly Run and Mind Eraser and their station houses was based on the amounts billed by the construction contractors who built or installed the rides. The portion of the assessment relating to Skyscraper was based on the amounts billed by the contractor who repaired the ride.

{¶ 8} The Tax Commissioner’s assessment was affirmed by the Board of Tax Appeals (“BTA”), which found that the rides were business fixtures and therefore personal property.

{¶ 9} This cause is now before the court upon an appeal as of right.

{¶ 10} The use-tax assessment made against Funtime was made under R.C. 5741.02, which provides that the use tax is applicable to “the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property or the benefit realized in this state of any service provided.” R.C. 5741.02(A)(1). However, R.C. 5741.02(C)(2) excepts from the use tax the acquisition of “tangible personal property or services, the acquisition of which, if made in Ohio, would be a sale not subject” to the sales tax.

{¶ 11} Funtime contends that it is not liable for the assessment made by the Tax Commissioner against the construction contracts for Grizzly Run and Mind Eraser and their associated stations because these rides and stations are real property, and sales-tax provision R.C. 5739.01(B)(5) excepts the construction contracts for real property from the definition of “sale” for sales-tax purposes, and, therefore, also from use tax: “[A] construction contract pursuant to which tangible personal property is or is to be incorporated into a structure or improvement on and becoming a part of real property is not a sale of such tangible personal property. The construction contractor is the consumer of such tangible personal property * * Thus, Funtime contends that if there is a tax liability relating to the construction or installation of Grizzly Run or Mind Eraser or their stations, it is the contractors’ and not Funtime’s.

{¶ 12} R.C. 5741.02(A)(1) levies a use tax on the benefit realized in this state of any service provided. Funtime contends that it is not liable for use tax on the amounts billed by Millar Elevator Service for repairs to Skyscraper because Skyscraper is real property. Use-tax provision R.C. 5741.01(M) defines the term “providing a service” by citing R.C. 5739.01(X), the sales-tax provision. R.C. 5739.01 includes in the definition of “sale” all transactions by which “[a]n item of tangible personal property is or is to be repaired, except property, the purchase of which would not be subject to the tax imposed by section 5739.02 of the Revised Code.” R.C. 5739.01(B)(3)(a). Thus, repairs to nonexempt tangible personal property are subject to sales tax and, therefore, use tax. However, repairs to real property are not subject to sales or use tax.

[76]*76{¶ 13} The history of this court’s decisions classifying property as real or personal begins with a nontax case, Teaff v. Hewitt (1853), 1 Ohio St. 511, 1853 WL 54. Teaff involved a dispute between creditors of a manufacturer and a mortgagee concerning whether machinery in the mortgagor’s possession was personal or real property. The court set forth three criteria for determining whether an item was a fixture (real property) or personalty: (1) actual annexation to the realty or something appurtenant thereto, (2) appropriation to the use or purpose of that part of the realty with which it is connected, and (3) the intention of the party making the annexation to make a permanent accession to the freehold.

{¶ 14} After personal property and real property were differentiated for tax purposes, the court decided a series of cases in which it held, “The decisive test of appropriation is whether the chattel under consideration in any case is devoted primarily to the business conducted on the premises, or whether it is devoted primarily to the use of the land upon which the business is conducted.” Zangerle v. Std. Oil Co. of Ohio (1945), 144 Ohio St. 506, 30 O.O. 151, 60 N.E.2d 52, paragraph four of the syllabus. The court followed this analysis until 1949, when it dropped consideration of whether the land or the business was benefited by the item in question and instead considered only the wording of G.C. 5322, the precursor to R.C. 5701.02, which provided: “The terms ‘real property’ and ‘land’ as so used, include not only land itself * * * but also, unless otherwise specified, all buildings, structures, improvements, and fixtures of whatever kind thereon * * Am.SJB. No. 63, 115 Ohio Laws, Part II, 272. Current R.C. 5701.02 incorporates this definition.

{¶ 15} As a result of considering only the wording of G.C. 5322, the court declared, “Even if a structure or building located on land is personal property, such structure or building will, for purposes of taxation, be included within the definition of ‘real property1 as that term is defined in Section 5322 General Code, unless the General Assembly has otherwise specified.” Reed v. Fairfield Cty. Bd. of Revision (1949), 152 Ohio St. 207, 40 O.O. 217, 88 N.E.2d 701, paragraph three of the syllabus. Following this reasoning, in analyzing more recent conflicts under R.C. 5701.02, the court merely had to determine whether an item was a building, structure, improvement, or fixture, and if it was any of those, it was classified as real property. Machinery and equipment were listed separately as personal property. As a result, photo kiosks in shopping-center parking lots and storage tanks were declared real property.

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Funtime, Inc. v. Wilkins, 822 N.E.2d 781, 105 Ohio St. 3d 74 (Ohio 2004).

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