List & Clark Constr. Co. v. Renegotiation Board

35 T.C. 823, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 215
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 28, 1961
DocketDocket No. 976-R
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 35 T.C. 823 (List & Clark Constr. Co. v. Renegotiation Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
List & Clark Constr. Co. v. Renegotiation Board, 35 T.C. 823, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 215 (tax 1961).

Opinion

Tietjens, Judge:

Tlie Renegotiation Board determined that the petitioner realized excessive profits of $50,000 in the calendar year 1954 from contracts subject to the Renegotiation Act of 1951. The petitioner denies that any excessive profits were realized and challenges the Board’s determination that the particular contract involved was not exempt from renegotiation. By amendment to the answer the Board asks a determination by the Court that the petitioner’s excessive profits were not less than $150,000. The profits relate to a single contract carried out in 1952 and for which final payment was received in 1954. Some facts are stipulated.

FINDINGS OF FACT.

The stipulated facts are incorporated by this reference.

The petitioner is a corporation organized mider the laws of Missouri. Its principal office is in Kansas City, Missouri. It is engaged in the general contracting and earthmoving business.

On April 7, 1952, the petitioner entered into a contract with the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, designated as Contract No. DA-25-066-eng-1603, herein referred to as the contract. This contract was for the performance of Stage I earthwork at the Gavins Point Reservoir project on the Missouri River near Yankton, South Dakota. The contract was designated in petitioner’s records as Job No. 363 and is sometimes referred to herein as the Gavins Point job.

In March 1952 the Corps of Engineers invited bids on the project for Earthwork, Stage I, for Gavins Point Reservoir Project in the form of sealed bids.

The petitioner was awarded the contract on the basis of a low bid in the amount of $860,163.20.

The contract recited that it was authorized by the Flood Control Act, approved 22 December 1944, Pub. L. 534, 78th Cong., 2d Sess. It provided, in part:

CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION
THIS CONTRACT, entered into this 7th day of April 1952, by the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (hereinafter called the Government), represented by the Contracting Officer executing this contract, and LIST & CLARK CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Missouri of the City of Kansas City in the State of Missouri, hereinafter called the Contractor, witnesseth that the parties hereto do mutually agree as follows:
1. Statement of Work. — -The Contractor shall furnish all plant, labor, materials and perform all work required for Earthwork, Stage I, for Gavins Point Reservoir Project near Yankton, South Dakota, for the consideration as listed in the following “Unit Price Schedule
UNIT PRICE SCHEDULE
Unit Price Item Estimated No. Description Quantities Unit
$50, 000. 00 1. Clearing and Grubbing_ Lump Sum
. 27 2. Spillway Excavation_ 458, 000 Cu. Yd.
. 29 3. Borrow Excavation_ 593, 000 Cu. Yd.
. 37 4. Chalk Excavation, Powerhouse 906,000 Cu. Yd. Area
5. Stockpiled Boulders_ 5, 000 Cu. Yd. Cji O
6. Compacted Fill, Impervious and 747, 000 Cu. Yd. Random O 05
. 10 7. Compacted Chalk Fill_ 364, 000 Cu. Yd.
. 04 8. Uncompacted Chalk Fill_ 664, 500 Cu. Yd.
.04 9. Uncompacted Chute Fill_ 199, 300 Cu. Yd.
.04 10. Uncompacted Earth Fill in Work 52, 280 Cu. Yd. Area
2. 50 11. Chalk Bank Protection_ 11, 500 Cu. Yd.
12. 50 12. Additional Rolling_ 600 Roller Hr.
2. 00 13. Water for Compaction_ 8, 850 M. Gals.
in strict accordance with the specifications, schedules, drawings, and conditions all of which are made a part hereof * * *

The specifications required completion of the contract within 210 days after receipt of notice to proceed, and provided for liquidated damages to the Government for each day of delay beyond such time or as extended.

The specifications described the site and the conditions found on subsurface investigation, stating that chalk was found in some bor-ings and recited, in part:

(3) Chalk. The Niobrara chalk is found only on the abutments and generally assumes vertical exposures along the bluffs or in gullies. It consists of a horizontally bedded semimentary [sic] deposit of marine organisms. Its color is grey when freshly exposed and it weathers to a buff color. It is light in weight, varying from 80 to 115 pounds per cubic foot dry weight, is porous and relatively impervious. * ⅜ ⅜

The specifications provided further, in part:

SECTION I — CLEARING- AND GRUBBING
1-01. Scope. The work covered by this section consists of furnishing all labor, equipment and materials and performing all work required to complete clearing and grubbing and disposal of cleared and grubbed materials as indicated on the drawings and specified herein.
* * * * * * *
1-0If. Payment. Payment will be made at the contract lump sum price for “Clearing and Grubbing,” which price shall constitute full compensation for all costs of clearing and grubbing to the limits referred to in paragraph 1-02 and disposal of cleared and grubbed materials, all as specified herein.
* * ⅜ * * * *
SECTION II — EXCAVATION
2-01. Scope. The work covered by this section consists of furnishing all plant, labor, and materials and performing all operations required to complete the excavation indicated on the drawings and as herein specified. Excavation as used in these specifications consists of the removal of earth, chalk and other materials from designated areas, and the transportation and disposal of such materials in areas designated herein or for construction of embankment as specified in Section III.
*******
2-05. Challe Excavation.
a. General. Chalk excavation shall consist of the removal of the material classified as chalk from the designated excavation area, to the lines and grades indicated on the drawing. The excavation shall be performed by approved methods that will not shatter, loosen or dislodge the material beyond the lines and grades of finished surfaces shown on the drawings.
*******
e. Disposal. Chalk excavated from any location shall be disposed of in the upstream compacted blanket, the chute closure dike and otherwise in accordance with the details shown on the drawings and as otherwise specified in Section III.

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Related

Perry v. United States
527 F.2d 629 (Court of Claims, 1975)
List & Clark Constr. Co. v. Renegotiation Board
35 T.C. 823 (U.S. Tax Court, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
35 T.C. 823, 1961 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/list-clark-constr-co-v-renegotiation-board-tax-1961.