Hunter v. City of Bozeman

In Hunter v. City of Bozeman, 216 Mont. 251, 700 P.2d 184 (Mont. 1985), the court looked beyond the lease agreement governing a municipality's use of a vehicle storage building, which was built pursuant to a separate construction contract to which the city was not a party. Affirming the lower court's decision that the lease "was in fact a sale of the building to the City and that this was in effect a public works project," the court found determinative the fact that the City obtained absolute ownership of the "'leased' building for $ 10 and retained ownership of the land" as well as the inclusion of a liquidated damages clause in the event the City failed to renew periodic five-year renewal options during the twenty-year lease period. Id. at 187.