Understanding Your Property Tax Bill

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Property owners in Orange County began receiving their property tax bills on July 31. The bill contains the property taxes due to each taxing jurisdiction based on the location of the property. For example, all taxpayers in the county will pay the Orange County tax due. Taxpayers who live within the municipal boundaries of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Mebane will also have a tax due to one of those municipalities. Orange County collects taxes and fees on behalf of all tax districts in the county and then distributes the appropriate amount back to each tax district.

The top of the bill contains descriptive information about the property you own.

A. BILL NUMBER: This is the unique number assigned to your tax bill.

B. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: This is the legal description of your property as it is recorded on official land records.

C. SIZE: This is the size of the property that is being assessed (expressed in lots or acres).

D. PIN (PARCEL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER): This is a unique number used to identify the parcel of land you own.

E. PRIMARY PHYSICAL ADDRESS: This is the address of the property being assessed. If vacant land is being assessed (which has no address), it would be represented as unassigned.

F. REAL PROPERTY VALUE: This is the value assigned to your property by the Orange County Tax Office based on the estimated market value of your property. This amount will be different this year than it was last year based on the results of the countywide revaluation. 

The goal of the revaluation is to make assessed values more reflective of market values. This is typically done every four years. Although the 2025 revaluation followed this schedule, the county was also mandated by the N.C. Department of Revenue to conduct the revaluation for 2025 because the difference between assessed values and market sales reached a threshold that requires counties to conduct a revaluation. To learn more about the revaluation process, please visit the Revaluation Website (www.orangecountync.gov/Revaluation)

G. REAL PROPERTY DEFERRED VALUE: This is the amount of value that is temporarily excluded from taxation, usually under a specific program— such as for historic properties, or other qualifying uses. The tax on this portion is deferred, not eliminated, and may become due if the property no longer qualifies.

H. REAL PROPERTY ASSESSED VALUE: This is the assessed value that remains after any deferments are subtracted.

Formula: Real Property Value – Deferred Value = Assessed Value

I. PERSONAL PROPERTY ASSESSED VALUE: This is the taxable value of personal property, such as vehicles, boats, trailers, or business equipment. Like real property, it’s based on current market value. Unlike real property, personal property is assessed annually.

J. EXEMPTIONS & EXCLUSIONS VALUE: This is the value of property that is excluded from taxation due to qualifying for exemptions, such as Homestead or disabled veterans’ exemptions. These amounts are deducted from the total assessed value before taxes are calculated.

K. TOTAL ASSESSED VALUE: This is the final total value of all taxable property, including both real and personal property, after all deferments, exemptions, and exclusions have been applied. This is the number used to calculate your property tax.

The bottom portion of the bill contains information on the name of the taxing jurisdiction or district and the type of tax or fee being charged, the tax rate established by each taxing jurisdiction, and the resulting amount of tax or fee due.

L. JURISDICTION & TAX/FEE TYPE: This is the unit of government receiving the taxes due to that unit. As noted, the tax bill you receive represents the combination of taxes due to more than one tax district depending on the location of the property you own.

M. TAX RATE PER $100/FEE RATE: This is the tax rate per $100 of assessed value as determined by the governing board of each tax district.

The amount of tax due to each tax district is derived using the formula:

Assessed Value X Tax Rate per $100 of Value = Taxes Due to the Tax District

For example, the adopted Orange County tax rate is 0.6383 per $100 of value. To determine the amount of Orange County tax due, you can divide the assessed value by $100 ($450,000/$100 = $4,500) and multiply that number by the tax rate ($4,500 X 0.6383 = $2,872.35). Given the assessed value of your property and the tax rate adopted by the Board of Commissioners (0.6383), your total county tax is $2,872.35. The same methodology can be applied to the other tax districts to determine the amount of taxes due to those other jurisdictions.

If you compare this rate to last year’s rate, you will notice that the rates are lower yet the taxes due may be higher. This is due to two factors.

     a. First, the rate is lower because of an adjustment that occurs following a revaluation. As total assessed value in the tax district               increased following the revaluation, the initial tax rate is adjusted downward to the revenue-neutral rate.

         After a revaluation, the governing board of each tax district is required to publish the revenue-neutral tax rate or the rate that               will produce the same amount of tax revenue that was produced in the prior year after accounting for natural growth in the tax           base.

         The revenue-neutral rate is determined by a state mandated formula, and the governing board of the tax district cannot change           the published revenue-neutral rate.

         There is no requirement to use the revenue-neutral rate when setting the tax rate in a revaluation year. Although each tax                     district is required to publish the revenue-neutral rate, the governing board of each tax district ultimately decides the final tax               rate which can be higher or lower than the initial revenue-neutral rate based on the priorities of the governing board.

         Total tax revenues for each tax district are calculated using the following formula:

         Total Assessed Value X Tax Rate per $100 of Value= Total Tax Revenue

         The following tables detail the initial revenue-neutral tax rate and the final rate adopted by the governing board of that tax                     district.