Fisher first received a notice from the county assessor in December stating that she owed $119,200 for 2009 property taxes. She passed the bill along to district officials, whose tax attorneys intervened and helped whittle the amount to $7,200, school board President John Heyde said Tuesday.
He said he is not sure why the initial bill was so high or why Fisher received her first tax bill at all.
"We have not been successful in eliminating it completely, but we have reduced it," Heyde said.
Kelley Quinn, spokeswoman for the Cook County assessor's office, said it appears that the district in 2007 reported for the first time that it was leasing the property to the child care facility.
"That prompts us to do an assessment and determine the assessed value of that portion of the property," Quinn said. "It looks like the school district incorrectly filled out the form in prior years by not noting they were leasing part of their property."
Nonprofit organizations are exempt from paying property taxes only if they can show that the space is being used for a nonprofit purpose, "which is education or religion, basically," said Susan Hofer spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Revenue.
Child Care with Confidence, in an annual charitable organization's report filed with the Illinois attorney general's office, states as its mission: "Full service day school for children ages 6 weeks through 5 years."
Becky Allard, the school district's business manager, said the child care center is classified as a "special commercial structure" by the assessor's office.
The center is responsible for any taxes owed, according to its 2002 lease with the district, Allard said.