June 27, 2011

Illinois Department of Revenue v. Family Counseling Center, Inc., Denial of Charitable Use Property Tax Exemption for Johnson County Developmental Training Center

The Illinois Department of Revenue denied a property tax exemption requested by the non-profit Family Counseling Center, Inc. (FCC), a community mental health center in Illinois, for the Johnson County Developmental Training Center, which is used to provide habilitation services for 48 adults with developmental disabilities. The FCC operates two other habilitation centers that have property tax exemptions. However, the state Department of Revenue determined that the property in question does not qualify for a charitable use exemption because one, the majority of the organization’s income is from fees for services paid by the State of Illinois and two, the organization’s admission policies lacked sufficient detail to determine that FCC could or would serve persons not eligible for Medicaid.