See inside the Kettelstone Central Sports Complex in Waukee
When completed, the Kettlestone Central Sports Complex will have 12 basketball courts, an outdoor court, stadium-style seating and parking.
Special to the Register
- The Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation is suing Dallas County over its decision to deny tax-exempt status for a new sports complex in Waukee.
- The foundation argues its $40 million facility should be tax-exempt, similar to the local YMCA, but the county’s Board of Review denied the appeal.
- County officials have not specified why the property is considered taxable, while the nonprofit foundation maintains its activities do not financially benefit private individuals.
The Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation says if Dallas County does not grant its new basketball and volleyball court facility in Waukee tax-exempt status it may be forced to close or sell.
The Ames-based nonprofit has filed a lawsuit against the Dallas County Board of Review in an attempt to reverse the assessor’s decision to value the complex’s buildings and land as commercial property worth more than $19.2 million. The two-building Kettlestone Central Sports Complex opened April 10 at 2045 S.E. Glacier Trail.
Developers of the $40 million, 140,000-square-foot basketball and volleyball facility — with two outdoor basketball courts that have grass seating between the buildings — expect it to be an annual $125 million economic engine for Waukee and the core of future development stretching west to Grand Prairie Parkway.
But unless the gym complex is considered tax-exempt, its owner may close or be forced to sell to a for-profit entity, “which will likely be less generous to the community and more focused on earning enough revenue to cover the expenses of the Complex,” according to the lawsuit the foundation filed in June. Ames-based Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation said in the lawsuit its annual tax bill could be from $500,000 to $1 million.
The Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation provides facilities and financial aid for youth athletic programs. Through his attorneys, foundation founder Dickson Jensen said Oct. 30 the Kettlestone Central Sports Complex will be used to accomplish its charitable mission similar to its two Ames facilities that are tax-exempt.
Jensen said Dallas County’s decision to deny a property tax exemption would be a “fatal blow” to the foundation’s investment in Waukee and would threaten the goal of developing the surrounding area.
“Given what is at stake for children who will benefit from IYAF’s programs, we had no choice but to file a lawsuit to challenge the Assessor’s baseless denial of the property tax exemption,” he said.
The foundation petitioned the board in April and said the Dallas County $19.2 million commercial valuation was not equitable to the valuation of the Waukee Family YMCA at 210 N. Warrior Lane. The YMCA property is valued at more than $15 million and was sold in 2021 for $9 million to a Beverly Hills, California-based property management company. But the property is considered tax-exempt and has been since at least 2021, according to county records.
But the Board of Review denied the Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation’s assessment appeal in May, stating in its ruling that the foundation failed to provide enough evidence to support its claims, according to the copy of the ruling notice included in court documents.
Asked if he had a comment on the lawsuit, Dallas County Assessor Steve Helm said Oct. 30: “The Dallas County Board of Review had 30 cases filed against them after the adjournment in 2025. This is very typical. The Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation is one of the lawsuits.”
A judge in August granted the foundation a temporary injunction against the assessment, accrual and collection of property taxes on the Kettlestone complex while the case is in court.
As of Oct. 30, it was waiting on a court ruling on whether an injunction bond must be paid before it goes into effect, according to Todd Lantz, one of the attorneys representing the foundation. A bond “could effectively negate the injunction by imposing a contingent liability on Iowa Youth that is equal to or greater than the potential tax liability,” Lantz said in an email.
A non-jury trial is scheduled for April 14, 2026, and Lantz said the first property tax payment would be due in September 2026.
Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation is a tax-exempt charity. What else do its finances say?
It is not clear why county officials have considered the 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation’s Kettlestone complex to be taxable commercial property.
“Iowa Youth has received no additional explanation to date,” Lantz said.
The foundation’s president is a private developer and some of his businesses are corporate sponsors of the foundation and the All Iowa Attack statewide youth basketball program it runs. Immediate family members serve on the foundation’s board and an extended family member has been involved with the Kettlestone development. Plans also include developing in the broader Kettlestone Central area of Waukee with potential restaurants, hotels, commercial spaces, medical clinics and indoor floor space for events such as conventions and gymnastics.
Federal tax records affirm the foundation’s status as a nonprofit, and the foundation said in its lawsuit, motion for an injunction and through its attorneys that none of the activity at the Kettlestone complex financially benefits private individuals.
“If there are any revenues in excess over expenditures, those funds will be kept as a reserve for unexpected expenses and to support the general charitable, benevolent, and educational operations of Iowa Youth,” according to the lawsuit.
The IRS database of tax-exempt organizations lists the Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation as a public charity.
The most recent federal tax return the foundation filed in July 2025 showed the foundation brought in $4.4 million in revenue, including more than $2.7 million from its basketball programs and more than $1.5 million in contributions and grants last year.
Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation’s tax return also showed the organization spent about $2.9 million last year running its youth basketball programs.
The foundation did not directly employ anyone and had 15 volunteers. Its four members on the board of directors together received more than $190,000 in compensation — not from the foundation but related organizations. The tax return did not say which organizations or how, but three members — Dickson, Blake and Luann Jensen — are also listed among the staff of All Iowa Attack on its website.
Most of the compensation, $140,000, went to Blake Jensen, who is the foundation’s director and manages day-to-day operations.
His father, Dickson Jensen, received more than $26,500.
Dickson Jensen’s nephew Nicholas Jensen, who manages Caliber Land Co., has been involved in the development of Kettlestone Central.
Dickson Jensen is a private developer whose Jensen Group has developed residential subdivisions in Ankeny, Huxley and Rhodes, and Brick Towne Living apartment complexes in Ames, Ankeny, Johnston and Waukee, according to the group’s website. The Jensen Group’s other ventures also include The Harvester Golf Club in Rhodes and managing nearly 1,000 other apartments in Ames.
The Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation listed the Jensen Group and The Harvester among other corporate sponsors on its website. And the Jensen Group listed the foundation and All Iowa Attack as among its “family of brands,” according to its website.
Dickson Jensen also founded and coaches All Iowa Attack.
Some of All Iowa Attack’s programs are free but others have fees and other costs including travel, according to the lawsuit. So the foundation uses money raised from donations, fees and other events to pay for the fees and travel costs of children in All Iowa Attack who cannot afford them.
“And that’s why I really do all this. It’s a complete nonprofit. I’ll spend 20 hours or more a week with basketball, that’s on top of all the development stuff, has nothing to do with that, but just being in the kids’ lives,” Dickson Jensen previously told the Register.
Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. Find out more about him online in the Register’s staff directory.
