The owner of the Kettlestone Central Sports Complex in Waukee won in April a lawsuit against Dallas County officials over whether the complex is exempt from property taxes. Now it has filed a new lawsuit alleging officials have not honored the ruling.
Dallas County Judge Stacy Ritchie said in a ruling April 6, “there is no genuine dispute of fact that the Kettlestone Complex is exempt from property taxation.”
That meant the Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation won its case filed last year against the Dallas County Board of Review, which had previously denied the two-building basketball and volleyball complex at 2045 S.E. Glacier Trail a tax-exempt status for its 2025 assessment of more than $19.2 million — assessed before the complex had opened.
But the Ames-based nonprofit foundation that provides facilities and financial aid for youth athletic programs alleged in a new lawsuit filed June 1 in Dallas County the review board again denied the complex’s property tax exemption on May 21 and kept Kettlestone’s 2026 assessment at more than $34.4 million. The complex opened in April 2025.
Dickson Jensen, the foundation’s founder, said in a statement provided by an attorney, “The Board’s decision required Iowa Youth to take further legal action to protect its ability to continue its decades-long mission of providing life-changing opportunities to Iowa children and promoting amateur athletics.”
Jensen has previously said through attorneys the Kettlestone complex would be used to accomplish the foundation’s charitable mission similar to its two Ames facilities that are tax-exempt.
A copy of the Board of Review’s May 21 decision included in court filings stated the reason for the denial of tax-exempt status was because “The taxpayer has failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the claims raised in their petition.”
Dallas County officials did not immediately respond Thursday, June 4 to request for comment.
Pat Burk, an attorney who has represented the county in the dispute with the foundation, said the new lawsuit is “nothing more than a procedural appeal with no effect upon final resolution of the matter. I see no controversy or conflict here.”
Without tax-exempt status, the foundation said in its first lawsuit it might be forced to close the basketball and volleyball facility or sell it to a for-profit entity. The foundation put the property up for sale during the dispute. But Todd Lantz, one of the attorneys representing the foundation, wrote in a statement after the April ruling in the foundation’s favor it would not move forward with a sale of the complex.
The foundation and review board also reached a settlement on whether the previous denial of a property tax exemption was unconstitutional, according to court filings from early May. The documents did not give details of the settlement, which was still being prepared.
The foundation filed its protest of the Kettlestone gym’s 2026 assessment April 2 with the county review board.
The foundation’s protest compared the more than 147,000-square-foot Kettlestone gym complex as similar to the Balanced Fitness gym at 101 S. Main St. in Woodward, the Forever Strong Training Center at 27871 Fairground Road in Adel and Unwind Wellness at 28901 R Ave. in Adel.
Those other gyms in Dallas County had non-zero assessment values, according to the protest document — Unwind Wellness had the highest of the three, with an assessment of more than $1.2 million — but the foundation still asked for a $0 assessment for the Kettlestone gym.
Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at PSitter@usatodayco.com. Find out more about him online in the Register’s staff directory.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Kettlestone gym owner files new lawsuit in Dallas County tax dispute
Reporting by Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
