Trimark sues Buena Vista County over Storm Lake clinic tax exemption
Trimark Regional Medical Center is fighting Buena Vista County over a Storm Lake clinic tax bill that topped $57,000 in 2024. The case could shape how nonprofit medical property is taxed across the county.
Trimark Regional Medical Center has sued the Buena Vista County Board of Review after county officials refused to exempt its Storm Lake family health center and urgent care clinic from property tax.
The dispute centers on the UnityPoint Health clinic at 2015 West 5th Street in Storm Lake, where urgent care is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Trimark says the facility is a recognized public charity and should not be taxed under Iowa law. The lawsuit asks the court to overturn the board’s decision and restore the exemption.
The property is valued at $1.1 million for 2026, down from $1.63 million in 2025 after the countywide reassessment. County records show Trimark paid $57,254 in property taxes in 2024, the latest bill available on the assessor’s website. If the exemption stands, that revenue would no longer flow into the local tax base that helps support Buena Vista County government, schools and other public entities.
Attorney Richard Davidson argues in the filing that the board gave no explanation for its ruling. The complaint attaches a two-sentence letter in which County Assessor Joe Cronin denied the request in March, and the board said in May that Trimark had not provided enough evidence that the property qualified as exempt or had been misclassified.
Trimark’s suit cites earlier Iowa appellate decisions involving medical facilities. The filing cites cases involving a county hospital in Van Buren County and the Victor Health Center in Victor, Iowa. In the Victor case, the Iowa Court of Appeals said the nonprofit health center was formed in response to rural concerns about access to care and upheld the tax exemption. Iowa Code section 347.32 says a hospital does not lose its tax-exempt or nonprofit status, except for property used for non-health-related purposes.
UnityPoint recently added expanded walk-in availability at the Storm Lake Family Health Center, and Buena Vista Regional Medical Center broke ground May 5 on a roughly 30,000-square-foot medical office building on the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center campus. The building is expected to bring together UnityPoint Clinic family medicine providers and the BVRMC Pharmacy.
The Buena Vista County Board of Review, appointed by the County Conference Board for six-year terms, handles assessment disputes each spring.
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