Property tax in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska

Who sends the property tax bill in Fairbanks North Star Borough, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Treasury and Budget Division. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assessing Department, which is who to ask if the value looks wrong. For how to look up and pay the bill, go to the county's own payment information.

The borough sends one bill. It always carries the borough's own areawide tax, adds City of Fairbanks or City of North Pole tax if the property is inside one of those cities, and adds service area taxes where they apply. The Assessing Department values property and handles exemptions; the Treasury and Budget Division sends the bill and takes payment. Owners who escrow receive a tax notice instead of a bill, and it is still the owner's job to make sure the lender pays on time. Card and e-check payments go through ACI Payments, which charges its own convenience fee.

When are property taxes due in Fairbanks North Star Borough?

For the Tax Year 2026 (calendar year, bills mailed by July 1, 2026) bill, Fairbanks North Star Borough splits the bill into 2 payments, the first due September 1, 2026 and the last November 2, 2026. The next one due is the second half, on November 2, 2026. An installment not paid by its due date is charged a penalty of up to 5% of the unpaid balance plus simple interest of 8% a year. Taxes are due as billed even while an assessment appeal is pending, and a missing bill does not excuse late payment. If a delinquency continues, advertising, legal and administrative costs are added, the borough holds a lien on the property, and it can end in tax foreclosure. Delinquent and prior-year taxes must be paid with guaranteed funds: cash, a cashier's check or a money order.

From Fairbanks North Star Borough's published schedule, checked September 23, 2026. The county had not posted a calendar labeled for this cycle when we checked, so these dates come from state law and the county's standing schedule; the date on your bill is the one that binds you.

Estimate the property tax on a home in Fairbanks North Star Borough

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Fairbanks North Star Borough's average effective rate of 1.19% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Fairbanks North Star Borough at a glance

Effective rate = median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

How does Fairbanks North Star Borough compare in Alaska?

Among Alaska's 28 counties, Fairbanks North Star Borough has the 4th highest effective property-tax rate: 3 rank higher and 24 rank lower. That places it among the most heavily taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 741st of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Alaska county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Fairbanks North Star Borough actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Fairbanks North Star Borough's 22,424 owner-occupied homes, 53.5% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 68.6% pay at least $2,000, and 8.9% pay under $800. Another 8.9% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $4,014 and owners without one pay $2,771. Owners who have paid off a home have usually held it longer, and in states that cap how fast an existing owner's assessment can rise, long-held homes carry lower assessed values. Census table B25103.

How does the Fairbanks North Star Borough property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $3,550 is about 3.1% of the median income of Fairbanks North Star Borough homeowner households, $112,730 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 61.7% of Fairbanks North Star Borough's occupied homes are lived in by their owners; renters pay property tax too, just folded into rent.

Have property taxes gone up in Fairbanks North Star Borough?

Yes. The median bill went from $2,901 in 2015-2019 to $3,550 in 2020-2024, a 22.4% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 24.3%, from $240,000 to $298,200.

Two Census ACS 5-year periods with no survey years in common, in each period's own dollars. A change counts only if it exceeds the combined 90% margin of error.

Property tax in counties next to Fairbanks North Star Borough

Fairbanks North Star Borough borders 3 counties.

How is a home assessed in Fairbanks North Star Borough?

Alaska assesses homes at 100% of market value in every county, Fairbanks North Star Borough included. How Alaska assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Fairbanks North Star Borough?

Not statewide. Alaska lets each municipality adopt, with voter ratification, a residential exemption of up to $75,000 of assessed value. That is the Alaska rule, and it applies in Fairbanks North Star Borough. Alaska's exemptions and relief programs in full.

On top of the Alaska programs, Fairbanks North Star Borough runs its own:

• Borough Residential Exemption: A borough exemption of $50,000 of assessed value (at most $10,000 against service area taxes) for an owner who holds title before January 1 and lives on the parcel as a primary residence on January 1; one per household, not for property held by a business, and it renews automatically until title or the parcel changes. Apply by February 14.
• Volunteer Firefighter or Emergency Medical Services Exemption: A borough exemption of 20% of assessed value, up to $10,000, on the primary residence of an active, unpaid volunteer firefighter or emergency medical responder; the application goes to your fire chief, not the Assessing office. Apply by February 14.
• Irving Hernandez Exemption: A full property tax exemption the borough offers under state enabling law for the home of the unmarried surviving spouse of a U.S. service member who died from an injury received on active duty while eligible for hostile fire or imminent danger pay; apply in person at the Assessing office. Apply by February 14.
• Energy Efficiency Tax Credit: A one-time credit of up to $7,500 against areawide property taxes for a newly built home finished in the prior year and certified at a 6-Star energy rating or higher; it is paid only if the Borough Assembly funds it that year. Apply by April 1.

How to appeal your Fairbanks North Star Borough property assessment

In Fairbanks North Star Borough you appeal to the Fairbanks North Star Borough Board of Equalization. The deadline: Within 30 days of the mailing date of your assessment notice, filed in person or postmarked by then. Notices are mailed at the end of January each year. Get the appeal form from the Assessing Department; an appraiser reviews and inspects the property first, and if you still disagree the case goes to the Board of Equalization. Only the owner of record on January 1, or an authorized agent, may appeal. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

How Alaska's appeal process works, including the next level if the first one turns you down.

Alaska rules from primary state sources, reviewed September 7, 2026; sources on the Alaska page.

Work out your own numbers

• How much house can I afford?

  Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Fairbanks North Star Borough's tax rate to hand.

• Mortgage calculator

  Monthly payment with principal, interest, tax and insurance, plus what an extra payment saves you.

• Alaska income tax

  Brackets, standard deduction and what Alaska actually taxes.

• Sales tax in Fairbanks North Star Borough

  The other local tax: combined state and local rate for this county.