Jennifer Nelson for www.theindianalawyer.com
The Indiana Board of Tax Review did not err when it determined property on which a KinderCare Learning Center sits qualified for an educational purposes exemption for the 2009 tax year, the Indiana Tax Court ruled Wednesday.
KC Propco owns the Greenwood KinderKare facility, which consists of a building and parking lot on 2.607 acres. KC Propco filed for the property tax exemption because it claimed it was owned, occupied and used as an early learning center for children. KC Propco is the real estate acquisition and development arm of the learning centers. KinderCare was later acquired by Knowledge Learning Corp., and all three entities operate out of the same corporate office in Portland, Oregon.
The facilities offer pre-K and kindergarten curricula as well as day care, and before and after school programs.
The Johnson County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals denied the exemption application, but the Indiana Board of Tax Review granted the exemption in 2011. In its final determination, the board stated that while KC Propco owned the subject property and KinderCare used it, each entity had its own exempt purpose.
In Johnson Co. Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals and the Johnson Co. Assessor v. KC Propco LLC d/b/a Kindercare Learning Center, 49T10-1112-TA-92, Judge Martha Wentworth affirmed, noting that most of what Johnson County challenged amounted to a request for her to reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of the witnesses who testified at the tax board’s hearing. She found enough evidence in the record that supports the finding that the subject property was used for educational purposes. Wentworth also affirmed the exemption being applicable to all 2.607 acres of KC Propco’s land, even though 1.607 acres were vacant. The building sits on the 2 acres, and that entire parcel is exempt.
