Property tax reappraisal moratorium sent to governor

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square

Earlier passage of a proposal for a statewide amendment on the midterm ballot in November would give voters a chance to weigh in a levy limit.

Affects local / Raleigh – Stopping property tax revaluation changes throughout North Carolina this year and allowing them to happen in 2027 is in a proposal that has reached first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein.

Reappraisals are required at least once every eight years, and some do so more frequently.

Property Tax Reappraisal Moratorium, known also as Senate Bill 889, cleared the House of Representatives 70-42 on Wednesday. Senate passage May 6 was 35-8.

Guilford County is third most populous of the state’s 100 counties at more than 567,000. The dynamic is a heavy concentration of Democrats’ support in the urban areas, more Republican in the country. All faced the fears common to reappraisals.

Sen. Gladys Robinson, D-Guilford, was against the measure and Sen. Michael Garrett, D-Guilford, had an excused absence while Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, was a leader in its push. Berger is president pro tempore of the chamber and also represents Guilford County along with Robinson and Garrett.

Reps. Tracy Clark, D-Guilford, Amos Quick, D-Guilford, Amanda Cook, D-Guilford, and Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, were among the 42 against in the House. Reps. Alan Branson, R-Guilford, and John Blust, R-Guilford, were for it.

“Guilford County's revaluation numbers make it clear that lower- and middle-income families will be hit the hardest by rising property taxes at a time when many are barely able to make ends meet,” Blust said. “If property taxes increase to the point where people can no longer afford their homes, then we have a serious problem. This moratorium gives Guilford homeowners breathing room, so families aren’t taxed out of their own communities.”

At the May passage, Berger said, “We need to take a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to address the growing strain of property tax increases on our citizens.”

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Clark, on the House floor Wednesday, said the measure ties the hands of county leaders making appropriations. Combined with no state budget, she said Guilford County’s schools are having $58 million taken away. She called the trickle-down effects “catastrophic.”

Earlier passage of a proposal for a statewide amendment on the midterm ballot in November would give voters a chance to weigh in a levy limit. Specific limits will not be in the ballot language; rather, the voters' choice gives lawmakers a chance to set it.

A poll in March of 600 likely voters from Carolina Journal and Harper Polling said 3 in 4 North Carolinians support such an amendment requiring limits on increases by local governments.

A fiscal note on an earlier edition of SB889 listed Bladen, Buncombe, Chowan, Clay, Davidson, Guilford, Harnett, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender and Scotland counties with revaluations scheduled to be effective this past Jan. 1. A separate bill, Adjust Counties/Reappraisal Moratorium (Senate Bill 474), passed the House 110-0 on Wednesday and provides four avenues of exemptions.

Two of the exemptions are having a population of less than 12,000 and having levied a property tax rate of 95 cents per $100 at any point in the last four years.

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Chuck Thompson is a reporter and columnist for The Shelby Independent. 

The Center Square.

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