North Carolina Passes New Limits on Property Tax Levies

On Tuesday, North Carolina voters narrowly approved House Bill 1089, which proposed a limit on property tax increases. The amendment needed 60% of voters to support it to pass. It received 60.4% support.The amendment does not specify the terms of those limits. Instead, that will be up to the North Carolina General Assembly to decide. Proponents, including North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall, contended that surging property assessments have enabled local governments to impose excessive tax burdens on residents without delivering proportional public services.Last year, Hall formed the House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction and Reform, a 23-member committee to examine property taxes in the state.“Families are getting ripped off as some, but by no means all, local governments rake in billions more than inflation and population growth warrant,” Hall said in a press release earlier this year. Support for the amendment fell across party lines. Conservatives and commercial organizations supported the measure, arguing that the amendment would help curb local government spending and protect property owners. Political pundits theorized that the ballot measures were meant to ent...