§ 105-278.4. Real and personal property used for educational purposes. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 105‑278.4.  Real andpersonal property used for educational purposes.

(a)        Buildings. –Buildings, the land they actually occupy, and additional land reasonablynecessary for the convenient use of any such building shall be exempted fromtaxation if all of the following requirements are met:

(1)        Owned by either ofthe following:

a.         An educationalinstitution; or

b.         A nonprofit entityfor the sole benefit of a constituent or affiliated institution of TheUniversity of North Carolina, an institution as defined in G.S. 116‑22, aNorth Carolina community college, or a combination of these;

(2)        The owner is notorganized or operated for profit and no officer, shareholder, member, oremployee of the owner or any other person is entitled to receive pecuniaryprofit from the owner's operations except reasonable compensation for services;

(3)        Of a kind commonlyemployed in the performance of those activities naturally and properly incidentto the operation of an educational institution such as the owner; and

(4)        Wholly andexclusively used for educational purposes by the owner or occupied gratuitouslyby another nonprofit educational institution and wholly and exclusively used bythe occupant for nonprofit educational purposes.

(b)        Land. – Land(exclusive of improvements); and improvements other than buildings, the landactually occupied by such improvements, and additional land reasonablynecessary for the convenient use of any such improvement shall be exempted fromtaxation if:

(1)        Owned by aneducational institution that owns real property entitled to exemption under theprovisions of subsection (a), above;

(2)        Of a kind commonlyemployed in the performance of those activities naturally and properly incidentto the operation of an educational institution such as the owner; and

(3)        Wholly andexclusively used for educational purposes by the owner or occupied gratuitouslyby another nonprofit educational institution (as defined herein) and wholly andexclusively used by the occupant for nonprofit educational purposes.

(c)        Partial Exemption.– Notwithstanding the exclusive‑use requirements of subsections (a) and(b), above, if part of a property that otherwise meets the requirements of oneof those subsections is used for a purpose that would require exemption if theentire property were so used, the valuation of the part so used shall beexempted from taxation.

(d)        Public Use. – Thefact that a building or facility is incidentally available to and patronized bythe general public, so long as there is no material amount of business orpatronage with the general public, does not defeat the exemption granted bythis section.

(e)        Personal Property.– Personal property owned by a church, a religious body, or an educationalinstitution shall be exempted from taxation if:

(1)        The owner is notorganized or operated for profit, and no officer, shareholder, member, oremployee of the owner, or any other person is entitled to receive pecuniaryprofit from the owner's operations except reasonable compensation for services;and

(2)        Used wholly andexclusively for educational purposes by the owner or held gratuitously by achurch, religious body, or nonprofit educational institution other than theowner, and wholly and exclusively used for nonprofit educational purposes bythe possessor.

(f)         Definitions. – Thefollowing definitions apply in this section:

(1)        Educationalinstitution. – The term includes a university, a college, a school, a seminary,an academy, an industrial school, a public library, a museum, and similarinstitutions.

(2)        Educational purpose.– A purpose that has as its objective the education or instruction of humanbeings; it comprehends the transmission of information and the training ordevelopment of the knowledge or skills of individual persons. The operation ofa student housing facility, a student dining facility, a golf course, a tenniscourt, a sports arena, a similar sport property, or a similar recreationalsport property for the use of students or faculty is also an educationalpurpose, regardless of the extent to which the property is also available toand patronized by the general public.(1973, c. 695, s. 4; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 926,s. 1; 2004‑173, s. 1.)