Vail Assocs. v. Commissioner

88 T.C. No. 77, 88 T.C. 1391, 1987 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 78
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMay 26, 1987
DocketDocket No. 17900-85
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 88 T.C. No. 77 (Vail Assocs. v. Commissioner) 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
Vail Assocs. v. Commissioner, 88 T.C. No. 77, 88 T.C. 1391, 1987 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 78 (tax 1987).

Opinion

FAY, Judge:

Respondent determined a $120,196 deficiency in and petitioner claimed a $81,379 overpayment of petitioner’s Federal income tax for the taxable year ended April 30, 1981. After concessions, the issue is whether certain pipelines and a pumphouse used in petitioner’s snow-making systems qualify for the investment tax credit under section 48.1

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly. In addition to the stipulations, trial testimony, and exhibits offered at trial, the Court, in the presence of counsel and expert witnesses, viewed petitioner’s snow-making systems.

Petitioner is a Colorado corporation having its principal place of business in Vail, Colorado, at the time it filed the petition herein.

Petitioner has owned and operated a ski resort in Vail, Colorado, since December of 1962. Vail, which is 40 miles west of the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass, sits at the base of Vail Mountain, one of the two ski areas operated by petitioner. The other ski area, Beaver Creek, is 10 miles west of Vail Mountain. The two ski areas occupy a total of 2,450 acres of terrain. Petitioner leases most of this terrain from the U.S. Forest Service.

Although petitioner engages in some real estate activities and operates Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek during the summer months for recreational activities other than skiing, e.g., hiking, camping, climbing, etc., its primary business activity is the operation of its skiing facilities. In 1966, petitioner began making snow (1) to enhance the skiing experience of its patrons and reduce insurance costs by safely covering obstacles, and (2) to lengthen its ski season. Petitioner increased its snow-making activities from 1966 to the late 1970s and during its taxable year ended April 30, 1982, placed in service a new and improved snow-making system at both Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek. Since the new systems have been in service, petitioner has been able to lengthen its skiing season by as many as 40 days. Each day petitioner’s skiing season is lengthened, petitioner generates approximately $230,000 in ski lift ticket sales revenue. With the new snow-making systems, petitioner has also been able to accurately plan its opening and closing dates, thus allowing its patrons to confidently plan trips months in advance. Some of the components of these new snow-making systems are at issue herein.2

The new snow-making systems mix pressurized cold dry air and pressurized cold water. The mixture is then sprayed into the atmosphere several feet above the skiing surface, forming a mist. As the mist falls to the surface, it cools and forms snow, if the proper meteorological conditions are present. Respondent’s expert’s report stated, “It is true that in a very broad sense, snow is ‘manufactured.’ ”

The new snow-making systems are the most inexpensive means of satisfying petitioner’s snow needs. Jeff White, petitioner’s expert witness and the president of Group Delta, the engineering firm which designed the new systems, testified that “if little gremlins with straw baskets * * * hauling snow out of the trees and dumping it on the trail” were the cheapest way to satisfy petitioner’s snow needs, petitioner would hire them.

The Vail Mountain SnowMaking System Water Supply

Water used by petitioner in its snow-making process is pumped from Gore Creek and Mill Creek, creeks which run through Vail, to a 6-million-gallon reservoir located at an elevation approximately 8,700 feet above sea level and 500 vertical feet above the elevation of Vail. From the reservoir, water is drained to a pumphouse located at an elevation approximately 20 feet below.

Pumphouse

The pumphouse, which houses four water pumps, eight air compressors (the “pumps and compressors”), a small room containing a computer, and another small room containing a table, chairs, and a toilet, is approximately 40 feet by 80 feet, is 20 feet high, and sits on a concrete slab. It is a steel-beam-framed prefabricated structure bolted to the slab. It has sheet metal exterior walls and a metal roof. It is located at an isolated area on the mountain, near the reservoir.

Delta Group designed the pumphouse to specifically accommodate the snow-making equipment it was to house. The walls are insulated to prevent condensation which could damage the equipment. The pumphouse is heated to prevent the equipment from freezing during periods of nonuse. The concrete slab, varying in thickness from 9 to 18 inches, was designed to accommodate the weight of and vibration from the pumps and compressors and to encase a conduit containing the wiring connecting the pumps and compressors to the computer and electrical supply. The pumphouse was designed in such a way as to contain and muffle the noise created by the pumps and compressors. The interior dimensions of the pumphouse were selected and designed to accommodate heat dissipation from the pumps and compressors and to provide room for their maintenance.3

Only one individual, the computer operator, works on a regular basis within the pumphouse. The computer and computer operator are stationed in a small computer room. Other individuals enter the pumphouse to perform maintenance work on the pumps and compressors or to use the facilities in the small room which contains a table, chairs, and a toilet. Vehicles may enter the pumphouse to install or remove equipment, but no vehicles are stored there.

If snow-making were to be discontinued, it would be more economically feasible to remove and sell the pumphouse. The high construction costs of the pumphouse, its location, and aesthetic considerations make it undesirable for conversion to alternative uses.

Pumps and Compressors

The pumps force water received from the reservoir through water pipelines. Water leaves the pumps at approximately 40 to 42 degrees.4 The compressors force air received from the atmosphere first through two cooling chambers and then through air pipelines. Air leaves the compressors at approximately 180 to 200 degrees.

Cooling Chambers

The compression of the air causes an increase in heat. Heated air is inconsistent with the objective of snow-making. Accordingly, the air leaving the compressor must be cooled.

The heated air leaves the compressor and enters the primary cooling device, the aftercooler. The aftercooler consists of pipes surrounded by cold water through which the air passes and cools. The cooling of the air causes condensation of the air’s moisture which must be removed to prevent frosting of air hoses used subsequently in the snow-making process. The cooled air and condensated moisture leave the aftercooler and enter the secondary cooling device, the stripping tower. Here the air is “freeze dried” and much of the moisture is removed. After the air has passed through these two cooling devices, its temperature has dropped approximately 135 to 145 degrees to approximately 45 to 55 degrees.

Water and Air Pipelines

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Vail Assocs. v. Commissioner
88 T.C. No. 77 (U.S. Tax Court, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 T.C. No. 77, 88 T.C. 1391, 1987 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 78, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vail-assocs-v-commissioner-tax-1987.