The court ruled that the exemption doesn’t apply because part of the money collected on the sales of tickets, food, drinks and other items at the arena was used to secure performers and events, not just to maintain the county-owned arena.

“St. Charles County seeks to characterize its agreements used to secure performers and events at the Family Arena as costs, analogizing them to the costs of its employees” who maintain the arena, the court said according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

An appeals commissioner and the state Revenue Department had reportedly come to similar conclusions.

The county was seeking a refund plus interest on the nearly $1 million collected at the venue between March 2007 and May 2010.