Property Tax Guide
Taxes are paid to what jurisdictions?
Cary property owners who live in Wake County pay yearly property taxes to both Wake County and the Town of Cary.
Cary property owners who live in Chatham County pay yearly property taxes to both Chatham County and the Town of Cary.
On what are taxes paid?
Taxes are paid on both real property and personal property. Real property consists of land, houses, commercial buildings, garages and other structures and improvements permanently attached to the land. Personal property consists of cars, trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, helicopters, boats – essentially any motor vehicle.
A portion of Cary lies in Chatham County. Residents of that portion pay Chatham County and Town of Cary taxes rather than Wake County and Town of Cary taxes. This article primarily addresses Cary residents living in Wake County.
How are taxes paid?
Taxes are billed separately for real and personal property. Real-property tax bills are issued in July of each year. Personal-property tax bills are attached to annual vehicle registration renewals and collected under North Carolina’s Tag & Tax Together system.
How is property valued for tax purposes?
Real property and personal property are valued by assessors employed by the Wake County Tax Administration.
When is property valued for tax purposes?
Personal property is valued every year and the assessment is effective on January 1 of the year.
Real property will be valued for 2027 and the valuations become effective January 1, 2027.
Wake County recently changed the revaluation cycle. For the last 20 years, properties were revalued every four years. In 2025, the Wake County commissioners changed the cycle such that there will be a revaluation effective January 1, 2027, then every two years thereafter.
The change was made [in this writer's opinion] because there is a built-in tax increase in a revaluation. The more revaluations there are, the more built-in increases can occur. See the extended discussion of the built-in increase on this page.
How are tax bills determined?
Real and personal property revaluations for the year are effective on January 1 of that year. It is on these valuations that taxes are levied. State law requires Wake County and the Town of Cary to set tax rates for the next fiscal year by July 1.
The County commissioners and Town council members have three options in setting the tax rates:
- lower taxes,
- leave taxes the same, or
- raise taxes.
NOTE: Tax discussions are often muddied, sometimes deliberately by those who would mislead and other times by those who haven't thought through the process.
In these discussions, Cary's tax rate is sometimes compared to the previous year's tax rate. This is not relevant to the discussion. The only issue is – does the proposed tax rate raise, lower, or leave taxes unchanged? Homeowners don't pay tax rates, they (we) pay tax bills.
In these discussions, Cary's tax rate is sometimes compared to the tax rates of nearby towns. This is not relevant to the discussion. The only issue is – does the proposed tax rate raise, lower, or leave taxes the same. Homeowners don't pay tax rates; they (we) pay tax bills.
In these discussions, it is sometimes said that a tax increase is the result of an increase in an assessment. This is incorrect. The increase is solely because the Council enacted a tax rate that increased the taxes.
The exact amount of the assessment was locked in six months before the tax rate was considered. The process is linear. The Town Council, the last element in the timeline, determines whether one's taxes go up, down, or remain the same.
See a discussion of the results of not seeing the property tax system as a timeline here.
Billing and payment timeline
January 1 — Ownership, value, situs, and taxability for the property are determined for the tax year; the tax lien attaches to the property.
By July 1 – Both Wake County and the Town of Cary set their respective tax rates.
July or August – Wake County sends the combined property-tax bills for both itself and the Town of Cary.
September 1 – Taxes become due and payable.
Through January 5 – Tax bills can still be paid at face amounts, without interest.
January 6 – Unpaid taxes become delinquent and begin accruing interest.
Sample calculation of property tax liability:
By January 1 of the tax year, the assessed value of a property is set at (say) $700,000.
The tax rate for the Town of Cary will be set on or before July 1 at 36.75 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Determine how many units of $100 are in the assessed value [of $700,000].
Divide $700,000 by $100 = 7,000.
Thus, multiply 7,000 by the rate of 36.75 cents [7000 x 36.75 = 257,250].
257,250 is the number of cents in the tax amount.
Divide 252,750 by 100 to convert cents to dollars [257,250 divided by 100 = 2,572.50].
Thus the Cary tax bill for this property is $2,572.50 for the tax year.
Do the same calculation for the Wake County tax bill, add the two, and the sum will be the tax liability for the year.
What happens if taxes aren't paid?
When a homeowner fails to pay real-property taxes, the unpaid taxes become a lien on the property. If the taxes remain unpaid, the delinquency may be advertised and the taxing authority can ultimately foreclose the tax lien and sell the property.
Once the taxes become delinquent, interest begins to accrue. North Carolina law imposes 2% interest initially, followed by 0.75% for each additional month or fraction of a month that the taxes remain unpaid. Collection expenses, including foreclosure costs and attorneys’ fees where applicable, can also be added to the amount owed.
The crucial point is that a North Carolina real-property tax lien has priority over virtually every other lien or claim against the property, including an existing mortgage or deed of trust. The tax lien is superior even to liens that arose before the unpaid property taxes.
In short, if the property taxes are not paid, the government can foreclose and sell the home, and its tax claim comes ahead of the mortgage lender’s claim to the property.
Property-Tax Relief Programs
We've parsed the statutes and set out below the elements of each of these programs. The programs haven't been adjusted in years, and inflation has severely eroded the benefits of the programs. A bill in the 2026 legislative session proposed lowering the draconian interest rate of the Circuit Breaker program, but it died in committee.
Disabled Veteran Program – Excludes $45,000 of a home’s value from taxation. Requires:
- Home is permanent residence, and
- Must have Honorable Discharge, and
- Must have 100% total and permanent disability, and
- That is service-connected.
Senior & Disabled Program – Excludes the first $25,000 or up to 50% (whichever is greater) of a home's value. [This cuts tax by half.]
- 65 years old or older, or
- Permanently disabled, and
- Gross income including Social Security cannot exceed $38,800.
Tax Deferment [also called Circuit Breaker Program] – Limits tax to 4% of income if under $38,800 [max. tax that must be paid is $1,552] and 5% of income if under $58,200 [max. tax that must be paid is $2,910]. Any remaining tax is deferred. When the owner dies, sells the property, or no longer uses it as a primary residence, the deferred taxes for the preceding three fiscal years become due, with interest. **
- Must be 65 years old or older, or
- Permanently disabled, and
- Gross income including Social Security for applicant and spouse cannot exceed $58,200, and
- Unmarried joint owners must apply and qualify separately, and
- All owners must have lived in the house for at least the previous five years, and
- Must apply every year for the program.
** The deferred amount accrues interest as though those taxes had been due on their original due dates. That rule is in G.S. 105-277.1F.
The applicable property-tax interest schedule under G.S. 105-360 is:
- 2% for the first month the tax is deferred, then
- 0.75% per month, or fraction of a month, until paid.
Notes: (1) Deferred tax amounts carry an annual interest rate of about 10.25%. The statute is silent on whether the interest is compounded.
(2) The incomes and dollar values for all programs are for the FY27 property taxes. These numbers may change from year to year.