(a)        Assessments upon real property in the possession or enjoyment of a tenant for life or a tenant for a term of years shall be paid pro rata by the tenant and the remaindermen after the life estate or by the tenant and the owner in fee after the expiration of the tenancy for years according to their respective interests in the land as calculated pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 37-13

(b)        If a person having an interest in land held by tenancy for life or years pays more than his pro rata share of an assessment against the property, he may maintain an action in the nature of a suit for contribution against any delinquent party to recover from that party his pro rata share of the assessment, with interest thereon from the date of the payment; and in addition, he is subrogated to the right of the county to a lien on the property for the delinquent party’s share of the assessment. (1963, c. 985, c. 1; 1965, c. 714; 1973, c. 822, s. 1.)