March 18, 2010

Illinois Supreme Court Ruling in Illinois Department of Revenue v. Provena Covenant Medical Center

On March 18, 2010, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that non-profit Provena Covenant Medical Center (PCMC) in Urbana, Illinois is ineligible for a charitable exemption to state property taxes. In its decision, although the court did not define a formula for the determination of the medical/charitable use of real property; it said that medical care, while potentially miraculous, is not intrinsically, necessarily, or even normally religious in nature. The ruling is the latest in an eight-year dispute between Provena Health System and the Illinois Department of Revenue. In 2002, the Illinois Department of Revenue determined PCMC operations did not meet the state's standards for charitable or religious use of the property, so the Champaign County Assessment Office sent a property tax bill to the parent organization, Provena Health System.