Maury County v. Tennessee State Bd. of Equalization (Summary)

Maury County v. Tennessee State Bd. of Equalization, No. M2002-00501-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 9, 2003)

A large, nonprofit hospital located in one county purchased a smaller, for-profit specialty hospital located in another county in its region. The purpose of the purchase was to allow the nonprofit hospital to continue to offer both primary and specialty care in the region. The nonprofit hospital applied to have the for-profit hospital, now owned by a nonprofit, exempted from property tax. Tax exemption was denied by several venues, based on the fact that the specialty hospital was located outside of the county in which the nonprofit hospital sat. The nonprofit appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals held that because the mission of the Hospital included the public purpose of providing medical care to the region, and not just the county in which the hospital sat, the hospital was exempt from ad valorem property tax.