Taxes & Fees

Johnston County handles all assessment, valuation, billing and collection of property and vehicle taxes.

You can call the Johnston County Tax Office at 919-989-5130 or go to the County website.

For a quick reference, check out How Your Tax Dollar is Spent (PDF).

Property Taxes

Property taxes are calculated for the fiscal year beginning July 1st and ending June 30th and are based on the assessed value of your property, not necessarily how much it sold for. Property taxes are due and payable on September 1st of each year and must be paid by January 5th. After that, interest will begin applying to your bill. Check out these Frequently Asked Questions.

State law requires all counties to conduct a revaluation at least once every eight years. Johnston County's last revaluation was performed in 2011 so a new revaluation was conducted in 2018 and went into effect January 1, 2019. The goal of the revaluation is to distribute the overall tax burden throughout the county in a way that is fair and equitable, and based on current property values. Johnston County's Tax Administration Office created a web page of information on the revaluation process, including a helpful FAQs sheet.

The current property tax rate for the Town of Clayton is $0.60 per $100 of valuation. To calculate your total property tax bill, simply add the Town of Clayton rate of $0.58 to the Johnston County tax rate of $0.76 for a total tax rate of $1.34. Take your assessed (taxable) value for your home, divide by 100, and then multiply by the total tax rate. Compare to other Johnston County tax rates.

Vehicle Taxes

Johnston County also sets the vehicle tax rate, but starting in 2013, those vehicle taxes are now collected through the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and not the county. Now, your annual vehicle inspection, registration and vehicle tax are due the same month each year. Only one payment - made either in person, online, or by mail - is required. Use this vehicle property tax estimator. Or check out this brochure from the Johnston County Tax Office.

In addition, the Town charges a vehicle tax of $30 per vehicle (PDF). This is billed on your property tax bill from the county. Effective July 1, 2018, the Town Council voted to increase our Vehicle Tag Tax by $25 - now residents pay $30 annually per car. Why did the Council decide to do this? Because the infrastructure of our community defines our community. You can become known for things. Clayton has some bad streets and the rate of decline is increasing. How do we get the revenue to pay for those streets? One way is to tax the cars that drive on them. The $30 annual fee is the maximum allowed by North Carolina law, and it would generate $375,000 in its first year. And what's most important, this money is restricted and must be used for street projects. Analysis from a recent study addressing Clayton's deteriorating streets estimated the Town needs to spend $1 million a year to keep our streets up. With roughly $500,000 from the state Powell funds, that leaves about half million more for the town to cover every year. A $25 increase equates to less than 7 cents a day to help keep our busy roads safe and smooth. No decals or stickers are needed for your vehicle. But, if you'd like, bring in your vehicle tax receipt and we'll give you a custom Town of Clayton license plate for the front of your vehicle. Just come to the Customer Service area in Town Hall, 111 East 2nd Street.

Special Assessments

Special Assessments are not property taxes based on the assessed value of your home, they are fees charged to help pay for major projects that help increase the value of your home, like water and sewer improvements, sidewalk or street improvements, or other construction projects. If not paid, they can show up as a lien on your property. View a list of current special assessments (PDF).

Comprehensive List of Fees and Charges

How much is a building permit or the cost of the summer camp at Parks and Recreation? For your convenience, we've put our full list of fees and service charges in one document, the Comprehensive List of Fees and Charges (PDF).