A new bill filed by State Rep. Tracy Clark in the North Carolina House seeks to exempt licensed child care facilities from property tax to support their operations and services, according to the North Carolina State House.
The bill, filed as HB 115 on Feb. 12 during the 2025 regular session, was formally listed with the short title: ‘Child Care Facility Tax Exemption.’
The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.
In essence, the bill proposes exempting qualifying child care facilities from property tax, effective for taxable years starting July 1, 2026. It introduces a special class of property for buildings, the land they occupy, and adjacent land essential for the facility’s use, owned by qualifying child care facilities. To qualify, a facility must be properly licensed and exclusively used for child care. If part of the facility is not used for child care, only the applicable part is exempt. Facilities under administrative penalties, such as probation or license suspension, are ineligible for the exemption. The Department of Health and Human Services will inform the Department of Revenue about facilities under penalties. An application process in line with G.S. 105-282.1 applies for claiming the exemption.
Of the four sponsors of this bill, Bryan Cohn proposed the most bills (four) during the 2025 regular session.
Bills in North Carolina follow a multi-step process before becoming law. A lawmaker starts by filing a bill, which is assigned to a committee for review. The bill must be read three times in each chamber. If one chamber changes the bill after the other passes it, both must agree on the final version. Once both chambers approve the same bill, it goes to the governor, who has 10 days (or 30 if the legislature is not in session) to sign, veto, or let it become law without a signature.
You can read more about the bills and other measures here.
Clark graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007 with a BA and again in 2012 from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Clark, a Democrat, was elected to the North Carolina State House in 2024 to represent the state’s 57th House district, replacing previous state representative Ashton Clemmons.
| Authors | Bill Number | Date Filed | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tracy Clark, Bryan Cohn, Kanika Brown, and Sarah Crawford | HB 115 | 02/12/2025 | Child Care Facility Tax Exemption. |
