Faith Builders Church v. Department of Revenue

State: Illinois

Court: 4th District Appellate

Docket No: 4-07-0199 Rel

Case Date: 02/07/2008

Preview:NO. 4-07-0199 IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FOURTH DISTRICT FAITH BUILDERS CHURCH, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Defendant-Appellant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Filed 2/7/08

Appeal from Circuit Court of Sangamon County No. 05MR158 Honorable Leslie J. Graves, Judge Presiding.

PRESIDING JUSTICE APPLETON delivered the opinion of the court: In this action for administrative review, the circuit court reversed the decision of defendant, the Illinois Department of Revenue, to deny an exemption from property taxes for Heartland Childcare Center and Heartland Preschool. The Department appeals. We conclude that the Department's findings are not against the manifest weight of the evidence. The Department could reasonably find that, in practical reality, the primary use of the child-care center and preschool was as a day care and that the religious purposes of evangelism and theological instruction were secondary. The Department could also reasonably find that the child-care center and preschool were not exempt as "schools" because neither of them offered an established, commonly accepted program of academic instruction. Therefore, we reverse the circuit court's judgment. I. BACKGROUND As the State stipulated in the administrative hearing, Faith Builders is a

religious organization. It is a typical church, which holds services twice a week. The federal government considers it to be a nonprofit organization organized and operated exclusively for religious purposes pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C.

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