The United States Ski and Snowboard Association received a blow Wednesday when the Summit County Council unanimously denied a request from the group for a tax exemption on its $22 million training facility at Quinn’s Junction.

Without the tax-exempt status for the facility, USSA will have to start paying property taxes on its Center of Excellence, pegged at nearly $180,000 per year. The decision could also require USSA to pay Summit County more than $14,000 in back taxes delinquent since 2008.

USSA attorney Adam Strachan told the County Council he plans to appeal the decision. Strachan and USSA Chief Financial Officer Mark Lampe did not comment as they left the County Courthouse Wednesday night.

Property used by Utah nonprofits for religious, charitable or educational purposes qualifies for tax exemptions under state law. USSA officials claim the Center of Excellence qualifies as an educational and charitable organization because amateur athletes train at the facility at no cost.

But a for-profit company called Center of Excellence Properties Fund, LLC, owns the building.

The ownership means the training facility does not qualify for a tax exemption under state law, Summit County Councilman Chris Robinson said.

USSA leases the building from the for-profit owner for about $183,000 per month.

“Our taxpayer, for which you are seeking exemption, it appears to be its primary purpose is collecting rent,” Robinson said about the for-profit building owner. “That, in itself, doesn’t seem like a charitable activity.”

Because skiing and snowboarding are dangerous activities, Strachan said USSA formed the for-profit owner as the titleholder for the building to protect the Center of Excellence from lawsuits brought by athletes injured while training.

“We wanted to make sure, given the risks inherent in our sport, that we protected it with a liability veil,” Lampe said.

But the purpose of the for-profit owner is leasing real estate, which disqualifies it from receiving the tax exemption, Summit County Councilwoman Claudia McMullin said.

“Because we do not have a non-profit entity applying, I think the inquiry is over,” McMullin said. “The owner of the property has to be not-for-profit.”

Along with housing offices for the U.S. Ski Team, the roughly 85,000-square-foot Center of Excellence features a weight room, gymnasium, sports-recovery area, nutrition center and sport-science laboratory.

Meanwhile, Summit County hired special counsel Maxwell Miller from the law firm Parsons, Behle and Latimer, who determined the USSA should not receive the tax exemption.

Strachan said Wednesday that he had not seen the opinion from the special counsel.

“The opinion on which the council’s decision is apparently based has not been seen by the applicant, ever,” Strachan told the County Council.

Councilwoman Sally Elliott said she regretted having to vote against USSA’s request.

“I hope you win on appeal, because if you do you will enable us to be able to grant exemptions to groups such as yours,” Elliott told Strachan.

Bill Marolt, USSA president and chief executive officer, was not immediately available for comment.