(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion, the result of which is to place form over substance. The legislature in adopting the sales tax act specifically exempted municipalities from the burdens of the act. Obviously, there are situations where municipalities are indirectly involved in the payment of sales tax. However, where governmental construction projects are involved, I believe we should take a liberal view of the actual factual situation to accomplish the legislative purpose of preventing local taxpayers from paying a substantial sum into the general revenues of the state.
Here, PMS originally included an estimate for sales tax in its annual bid. The county deducted the actual tax from the bid and required two separate contracts. This was done both to avoid sales tax problems and to facilitate management of the project. The county was aware at the time of the signing of the two agreements that PMS had absolutely no capability for performing the erection contract and that it would be sublet.
Under these circumstances, I find this case indistinguishable on the actual facts from our decision in Duluth Steel Fabricators, Inc. v. Commr. of Taxation, 306 Minn. 567, 237 N.W.2d 625 (1975), and would affirm.