(The Center Square) – North Carolina voters could get the chance to vote in November on a constitutional amendment that would give the Legislature marching order to put the brakes on rising property taxes.
Dan Ettefagh, the director of the General Assembly’s bill drafting division, presented the proposed constitutional amendment to a committee in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
It would “impose by a constitutional amendment on the General Assembly the duty to enact legislation that would limit future increases to the property tax levy,” Ettefagh told members of the House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction and Reform.
Just exactly how the Legislature would do that is not spelled out in the draft of the legislation, Ettefagh said.
“Those parameters or the limit of those parameters would be accomplished by statutor language that would implement this constitutional mandate,” he said.
If passed by the Legislature, the amendment would be on the ballot in November, Ettefagh said.
The committee did not vote on the legislation Wednesday but could on April 15.
If the General Assembly imposed a property tax cap by legislation, a subsequent Legislature could vote to change the cap, Ettefagh said in a response to a question from a committee member.
Rep. Jeff Zenger, R-Forsyth, said the cap should limit the amount property taxes could be raised in a single year.
“I’ve got a letter right here in front of me from a 72-year-old woman who is on a fixed income who since 2010, her property taxes have gone up 146%,” Zenger said. “She’s lived in that house for decades. It’s going to cost her $790 a month to stay in the house that’s paid for.”
The legislator said his property taxes increased 52% this year.
Governments don’t want to cut spending, he told the committee.
“But guess what?” he said. “This lady is going to have to. What does she do? Go to Meals on Wheels or stop taking medicine?”
Although some members of the committee expressed concern that caps would cause cuts in police and other services, Rep. Brian Echevarria, R-Cabarrus, disagreed.
“This language is pretty clear,” he said. “It says a constitutional amendment requiring limits on property tax increases by local governments. If a property tax increase limit is put in, how does that affect current spending, current law enforcement, and all of that?”
Speaker Destin Hall praised the fact that the House is “actively exploring the proposed constitutional amendment.”
“Property taxes are out of control,” he said in a statement. “Families are getting ripped off as some, but by no means all, local governments rake in billions more than inflation and population growth warrant. It’s time for real reform, which is why the House is pursuing solutions like levy limits to stop runaway property tax hikes and protect North Carolina taxpayers.”
Hall cited research by the John Locke Foundation that found nine of the state’s 10 largest counties by population have increased property taxes almost $3 billion more than justified by the growth in population and inflation.
