North Carolina tax amendments and ballot rules

Key takeaways

The property-tax amendment leaves the numerical cap to the state legislature.
The income-tax measure would lower the constitutional ceiling from 7% to 3.5%.
New mail-ballot rules produced rejection rates as high as 7% to 8% in some counties.

North Carolina voters will have the option in November to vote on two amendments affecting property and income taxes, according to Realtor.com. Neither source describes a new visa, financing or purchase rule specifically for foreign buyers; the reported changes operate through the state constitution, taxation and local budgets.

"The growth formula, any exceptions and the treatment of revaluation years will decide whether this is a modest guardrail or a binding constraint on local budgets," — Nathan Goldman, scholar at NC State.

Two tax amendments go before voters in November

The property-tax amendment would require the state legislature to pass laws limiting property-tax increases. It does not set the cap itself, leaving that decision to the legislature.

The second measure would lower the constitutional ceiling on personal and corporate income-tax rates from 7% to 3.5% in January. If approved, the state would be barred from raising the rate above 3.5% again. The current law already keeps the individual income-tax rate below the proposed 3.5% ceiling.

Before	After
The current law keeps the individual income-tax rate below the proposed 3.5% ceiling.	The constitutional ceiling for personal and corporate income-tax rates would fall from 7% to 3.5% in January, with no increase above 3.5% permitted afterward.
No property-tax cap is specified by the proposed amendment.	The legislature would be required to pass laws limiting property-tax increases, with the level of the limit left to lawmakers.

Readers assessing the ballot measures should check:

Whether the property-tax amendment specifies a numerical cap or leaves it to the legislature.
Whether the income-tax proposal would prevent a future rate above 3.5%.
How local services and funding could change if property-tax collections are constrained.

Property-tax limits could affect local funding

Supporters argue that a property-tax cap would slow increases in property-tax bills and limit local-government spending. Opponents say it would reduce the flexibility available to cities and towns, potentially affecting schools, emergency services and park funding.

The North Carolina Housing Coalition says a cap would restrict many local governments while returning only a small amount to homeowners. The NC Budget & Tax Center estimates that the measure could reduce tax bills by an average of $84 per home per year, while cutting funding for state services. Its example says a 2% property-tax levy limit could cost the state $950 million.

The John Locke Foundation, a free-market think tank, provides the opposing financial argument. Its study found that property-tax collections exceeded inflation plus population growth by $2.6 billion over a decade.

Public opinion cited in the report favors tighter limits. An Elon University poll found that 72% supported limiting property-tax increases. NC Realtors told Realtor.com that it is neutral on the property-tax proposal.

Goldman warned that the amendment’s “growth formula” and treatment of revaluation years would determine whether it acted as a limited safeguard or a stronger restriction on local budgets. Governor Josh Stein has opposed both amendments, while Republican House Speaker Destin Hall supports the property-tax measure.

North Carolina’s tax burden is below the U.S. average

North Carolina ranked 33rd among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., for its property-tax burden, according to the Tax Foundation. Its effective real-estate tax rate was 0.66% as of 2024, the latest available data.

The average U.S. household paid $3,119 in annual property taxes, compared with $1,896 for a home priced at North Carolina’s median value. The state was 66.6% owner-occupied, and median monthly owner costs, including a mortgage, were about $1,631.

These figures provide the current scale against which supporters and opponents of the amendments are arguing. The reported possible saving of $84 per home per year is also far below the annual property-tax figure for a median-valued North Carolina home.

For comparison with housing-policy changes elsewhere that are more directly framed around foreign buyers, see the reporting on Spain’s new housing decree.

New mail-ballot rules are driving rejections

The election that determines whether the amendments pass is being conducted under new absentee-ballot rules. According to Democracy Docket, some large counties reported that approximately 2.5% of mail ballots were being rejected under the rules. Democratic strongholds were seeing rejection rates of 7% to 8% in some places.

The State Board of Elections approved the rules in September in a party-line vote hours before ballots were mailed. Voters must place and seal their ballot inside an inner envelope before placing that envelope inside an outer envelope. Another rule limits assistance to specified near-relatives. A federal judge upheld the rules on Monday, and the rejection rate was reported as twice as high as in 2022.

For a home priced at North Carolina’s median value, the reported annual property-tax bill was $1,896.