Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

LONG-TERM OBLIGATIONS AND OPERATING LEASE

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LONG-TERM OBLIGATIONS AND OPERATING LEASE
12 Months Ended
Aug. 31, 2015
Long-Term Obligations And Operating Lease  
LONG-TERM OBLIGATIONS AND OPERATING LEASE

As of August 31, 2015, the Company had no debt.  As of August 31, 2014, the Company was subject to mortgages with contractual maturity dates as described below.

 

The Participating Interest in Export Water Supply and, during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2014, the Tap Participation Fee payable to HP A&M are obligations of the Company that have no scheduled maturity dates. Therefore, these liabilities are not disclosed in tabular format. However, the Participating Interests in Export Water Supply is described in Note 5 – Participating Interests in Export Water, and the Tap Participation Fee is described below in section "Tap Participation Fee."

 

Tap Participation Fee

 

HP A&M relinquished all rights to the TPF pursuant to the settlement agreement entered into between the Company and HP A&M in January 2015. As a result, the TPF was eliminated during the period ended February 28, 2015. The Company recorded the decreases in the TPF payable as an equity transaction due to the related party nature of the original transaction.  For a more detailed discussion of the valuation of the TPF, see Note 7 – Long Term Debt and Operating Lease in Part II, Item 8 of the 2014 Annual Report. For further discussion of the settlement agreement, see Note 12 – Litigation and Loss Contingencies below.

 

Prior to the settlement with HP A&M, the TPF was an obligation of the Company to pay 10% of the Company's gross proceeds, or the equivalent thereof, from the sale of 40,000 water taps sold after the date of the Arkansas River Agreement. The 40,000 water taps were eliminated as a result of (i) sales of Arkansas River Valley land in 2006 and 2009; (ii) the sale of unutilized water rights owned by the Company in the Arkansas River Valley in 2007; (iii) the election made by HP A&M, effective September 1, 2011, pursuant to the Arkansas River Agreement, to increase the TPF percentage from 10% to 20%, and to take a corresponding 50% reduction in the number of taps subject to the TPF; (iv) the allocation of 26.9% of the Net Revenues (defined as all lease and related income received from the farms less employee expenses, direct expenses for managing the leases and a reasonable overhead allocation) received by HP A&M from management of the farm leasing operations from September 1, 2011 to August 3, 2012 prior to termination of the agreement with HP A&M to manage the farm leasing operations (the "Property Management Agreement"); (v) the reduction of 19,044 taps as the result of foreclosures on certain farms pursuant to the remedies outlined in the Arkansas River Agreement (2,233 in fiscal year 2013, 15,010 in fiscal year 2014, and 1,801 in fiscal year 2015); and (vi) the settlement reached with HP A&M in January 2015.

 

The fair value of the TPF liability through the date of the settlement was an estimate prepared by management of the Company. The fair value of the liability was based on discounted estimated cash flows subject to the TPF calculated by projecting future annual water tap sales for the number of taps subject to the TPF at the date of valuation. Future cash flows from water tap sales were estimated by utilizing the following historical information, where available:

 

  · New homes constructed in the area known as the 11-county "Front Range" of Colorado from the 1980s through the valuation date;

 

  · New home construction patterns for large master planned housing developments along the Front Range;

 

  · Population growth rates for Colorado and the Front Range; and

 

  · The Consumer Price Index since the 1980s to project estimated future water tap fees.

 

Utilizing this historical information, the Company projected an estimated new home development pattern in its targeted service areas sufficient to cover the sale of the water taps subject to the TPF at the date of the revaluation, August 31, 2014. The estimated proceeds generated from the sale of those water taps resulted in estimated payments to HP A&M over the life of the projected development period of $2 million. The estimated payments to HP A&M were then discounted to the current valuation date, and the difference between the amount reflected on the Company's balance sheet at the valuation date and the total estimated payments were imputed as interest expense over the estimated development time using the effective interest method. The implied interest rate for the most recent valuation was 3.4%.

 

As of August 31, 2014, 2,184 taps (approximately $7.9 million of the TPF) were subject to the TPF.

 

Promissory Notes Payable by HP A&M in Default

 

As of August 31, 2015, the Company had no mortgages payable.

 

Approximately 60 of the 80 properties the Company originally acquired from HP A&M were subject to outstanding promissory notes owed by HP A&M to third parties and not assumed by the Company (the "Excluded Indebtedness") that were secured by deeds of trust on the Company's properties and water rights, as well as mineral interests. HP A&M defaulted on all of the promissory notes. HP A&M owed approximately $9.6 million of principal and accrued interest as of September 1, 2012. These promissory notes were secured by approximately 14,000 acres of land and 16,882 FLCC shares owned by the Company.

 

To protect its land and water interests, the Company purchased approximately $9.4 million of the $9.6 million notes payable by HP A&M in exchange for cash and secured promissory notes identified on the accompanying balance statement as mortgages payable. As of August 31, 2014, the amount owed by the Company on the mortgages payable was approximately $5 million, including accrued interest of $80,800.

 

WISE Partnership

 

During December 2014, the Company, through the District, consented to the waiver of all contingencies set forth in the Amended and Restated WISE Partnership – Water Delivery Agreement, dated December 31, 2013 (the "WISE Partnership Agreement"), among the City and County of Denver acting through its Board of Water Commissioners ("Denver Water"), the City of Aurora acting by and through its Utility Enterprise ("Aurora Water"), and the South Metro WISE Authority ("SMWA"). The SMWA was formed by the District and nine other governmental or quasi-governmental water providers pursuant to the South Metro WISE Authority Formation and Organizational Intergovernmental Agreement, dated December 31, 2013 (the "SM IGA"), to enable the members of SMWA to participate in the regional water supply project known as the Water Infrastructure Supply Efficiency partnership ("WISE") created by the WISE Partnership Agreement. The SM IGA specifies each member's pro rata share of WISE and the members' rights and obligations with respect to WISE. The WISE Partnership Agreement provides for the purchase of certain infrastructure (i.e., pipelines, water storage facilities, water treatment facilities, and other appurtenant facilities) to deliver water to and among the 10 members of the SMWA, Denver Water and Aurora Water. Certain infrastructure has been constructed and other infrastructure will be constructed over the next several years.

 

By consenting to the waiver of the contingencies set forth in the WISE Partnership Agreement, pursuant to the terms of the Rangeview/Pure Cycle WISE Project Financing Agreement (the "WISE Financing Agreement") between the Company and the District, the Company has an agreement to fund the District's participation in WISE effective as of December 22, 2014. The Company's cost of funding the District's purchase of its share of existing infrastructure and future infrastructure for WISE is projected to be approximately $5.8 million over the next five years. See further discussion in Note 4 – Related Party Transactions.

 

Operating Lease

 

Effective January 2015, the Company entered into an operating lease for approximately 2,500 square feet of office and warehouse space. The lease has a one-year term with payments of $3,000 per month.