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North Carolina Governor Calls Proposal To Cap Property Taxes a 'Con Job'-but Voters Will Decide · Best of: Features

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  North Carolina Governor Call's proposal to cap property taxes a conjob but
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  voters will decide. Written by Tristan Nivera this article is
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  being read by an automated voice generated by Everlet. North Carolina voters
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  will have the option to cap both property and personal income taxes
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  this November. Two measures on the ballot, this election season in North
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  Carolina, give voters the chance to limit tax increases. One amendment would
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  require The state legislature to pass laws limiting property
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  tax increases. It doesn't establish what that cap would be, leaving it
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  up to the legislature to decide. The other proposed amendment would lower
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  the constitutional ceiling on personal and corporate income tax rates from seven
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  percent to three point five percent in January. The State would then
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  be barred from raising the tax rate above three point five percent
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  again. Supporters argue the property tax cap would slow The
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  rise of property tax bills and limit local government spending. Opponents say
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  it would give cities and towns less flexibility to respond to local
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  needs, and that could affect schools, emergency services, and park funding. North
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  Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, has been opposed to both the
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  income and property tax limit amendments, calling them con jobs that would
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  shift a heavier tax burden onto working people. The NC Realtors are
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  neutral on the proposal, they told Realtor dot com registered trademark. North
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  Carolina is just one of ten states with major ballot measures that
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  could affect homeowners and home buyers. The Realtor.com guide to the 2026
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  midterm ballot measures is here. Who is for and against the amendment?
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  A tax cap would hamstring many local governments while returning only a
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  few dollars to homeowners, the North Carolina Housing Coalition said. And the
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  NC Budget and Tax Center said the measure could lower tax bills
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  marginally, just eighty four dollars per home per year on average, while
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  slashing funding for state services. For instance, a two percent property tax
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  levy limit could cost the state nine hundred and fifty million dollars.
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  The League of Women Voters opposes both measures. The current law already
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  keeps the individual income tax rate below the proposed three point five
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  percent cap, and both measures could limit the state from collecting needed
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  funding in the future, while shifting authority of funding decisions to the
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  state. On the other hand, supporters say the bill could prevent the
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  government from drawing ever more property tax. Free market think tank, the
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  John Locke Foundation, said in a study that property tax collections exceeded
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  inflation plus population growth by two point six billion dollars over a
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  decade. Republican House Speaker Destin Hall, a supporter of the amendment, said
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  it would stop runaway property tax hikes. Voters suffering from the rising
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  cost of living seem to favor the push to limit property taxes.
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  An Elon University poll this year found 72 backed limiting property tax
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  increases. Nathan Goldman, a scholar at NC State, said the property tax
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  change could have unintended consequences. Property and income tax are the two
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  largest sources of state revenue. If both amendments pass, North
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  Carolina might see other things get more expensive, like sales taxes and
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  user fees, he said. The growth formula, any exceptions, and the
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  treatment of revaluation years will decide whether this is a modest guardrail
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  or a binding constraint on local budgets, Goldman wrote. What are North
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  Carolina's property tax obligations? North Carolina ranks thirty three out of the
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  fifty states plus Washington, DC, for its property tax burden, according to
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  the Tax Foundation. It has an effective real estate tax rate of
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  zero point six six percent as of twenty twenty four, the latest
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  available data. While the average US household pays 3,119 per
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  year in property taxes, annual taxes on a home priced at NC's
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  median value was 1,896. North Carolina is sixty six point
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  six percent owner occupied housing, according to data from the US Census
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  Bureau. Including a mortgage, median monthly owner costs are about one thousand
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  six hundred and thirty one dollars. But the state is one with
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  many older homeowners, setting it as a major site of the great
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  wealth transfer in the coming decades. In the meantime, it's emerged as
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  a destination for Gen Z. Stein has said the state needs to
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  do more to address housing affordability. This year he signed Senate Bill
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  four hundred forty five, aimed at increasing production of homes in the
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  state as well as accessory dwelling units. Another measure cut down on
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  mandatory minimum parking spaces aimed to make it easier to build in
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  the state.