The district had the authority to sell bonds backed by real estate taxes in the counties served by the Denver and Salt Lake Railway, which was the original railroad tenant of the tunnel.
However, the district continued to collect taxes for another year, resulting in a fund of excess cash of approximately $1 million.
In 1990, a group of activist commissioners were elected who proceeded to use the resources at their disposal to sue the Winter Park Resort, the Colorado Arlberg Club and the City and County of Denver in order to represent the public interest against perceived abuses by powerful private interests.
Because of these challenges, the railroad and the ski area join forces in 1996 to push forward a bill in the state legislature to dissolve the commission.
The bill specified that new commissioners would be named by the Governor (Roy Romer) to handle the liquidation of the commission and the transfer of assets to the state.