Federal Updates
Sen. Tillis Signs Onto Letter to Secretary Rollins About Concerns for USDA 502 Program
On March 20, Senator Tillis signed onto a letter addressed to USDA Secretary Rollins that expresses their concerns with the recent revisions to the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Section 502 Direct Loan Handbook. The letter cites one of the most concerning changes as “The reduction of Section 502 loan limits from 80 to 60 percent of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 203(b) limit”. These changes, among others cited in the letter, have created the “fear that reducing loan limits without exception will render the 502 Direct Program inaccessible to countless rural households”. The letter concludes with a request to the USDA Secretary that the USDA “immediately rescind the February 10 revisions and restore prior guidance”, and that the department work closely with Congress and the public to make sure future revisions align with the intent of the program and the reality of our rural housing markets.
What Changes?
In early February, changes were made to Procedure Notice 655 to the USDA-Handbook-1-3550. The changes reduced the USDA area loan limits from 80% to 60% of the FHA area loan limits. One of our partners, Mountain Housing Opportunities, who also joined us in DC two weeks ago for Hill Day, shared with us their concerns about this federal policy change, and the numerous national organizations that are speaking out about it.
21st Century ROAD to Housing Act: Possible Deal Floated Between House and Senate Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), chair of the House Financial Services housing subcommittee, told reporters over the weekend that Senate Republicans are considering adding a banking deregulation provision to a cryptocurrency bill in exchange for the House Republican members’ support of a major bipartisan housing package. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act includes provisions from both the House’s Housing for the 21st Century Act and the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act of 2025. It successfully passed in the Senate with overwhelming support earlier this month.
House Republicans have concerns about the bill and some of the provisions left out of the bill. Republican Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-AR) announced a couple of weeks ago that House Republicans would not support the bill in its current form. It’s unclear if this deal would be enough to sway House Republicans into supporting the bill in its current form.
Big Picture: Republicans are feeling the pressure with upcoming midterms to provide a solution to voters’ affordability concerns.
Other Federal Updates
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Remove Certain Homeowners Insurance Requirements That Will Reduce Costs | FHFA
Single Family Housing Section 502 Home Loan Program-Self-Help and Affordable Housing | Federal Register
State Updates
Legislative Updates
House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction & Reform Update
The House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction & Reform convened last Wednesday to discuss several proposed bill drafts that have developed from previous meeting discussions, legislator priorities, and committee presentations over the last several months. Early on in the meeting, Representative Julia C. Howard, Co-Chair of the committee, noted that she’d already requested that the House committee be extended for at least another year and impressed the importance and complexity of this work to her fellow legislators. This complexity was definitely noted as the committee worked through each legislative proposal. Read our full summary of the meeting here.
Speaker Destin Hall Supports Property Tax Levy Limits, Calls out Wake and Cabarrus County
Speaker Destin Hall announced his support for property tax levy limits on social media last week. Hall uses data from a study released from the John Locke Foundation titled “How Much is Too Much? An analysis of property tax revenue growth in the state’s most populous counties.” During the same decade that this study is referring to, income and corporate income taxes have been sliced significantly; as a result, increased costs have been shouldered by local governments (at least partially). And with federal funding support for things like education, health being sliced significantly as well, this is the period in which the heaviest property tax increases have occurred.
Let’s be clear: there’s no question that rising property tax burdens are a huge issue in our state, especially for those on fixed income. But there are much better ways to target that burden in a way that helps people stay in their homes without hamstringing local governments with a one-size-fits-all approach. So let’s walk through a scenario.
What is a levy limit?
A levy limit restricts the overall amount of increased property tax revenue that a county can collect. This is a model being considered in one of the proposals before the House Select Committee on Property Tax. It’s important to note the state has not been specific or clear about what the limit would be in their proposal nor how they would design it.
Example: What relief could a levy limit provide? What about the current property tax relief programs?
Let’s look at an example of an elderly homeowner similar to one of the examples that a committee member shared at last week’s meeting.
This homeowner lives in Lewisville, Forsyth County, and is on a fixed income, lets say $45,000 per year. They saw their property taxes increase from $2,500 to $5,000 a year after last year’s revaluation. A levy limit because they aren’t retroactive, would provide no relief to this homeowner. If a levy limit already existed, say a 2.5% revenue increase cap which is common in other states with this policy, then this would have saved them $300. However, their property taxes still would have increased by $2,200 or 90%.
Current Property Tax Relief Programs & Impactful Improvements
The Coalition has been actively communicating with legislators about the importance of improving our existing property tax relief programs. We believe that current programs can be updated to consider the scale of the need and avoid handicapping our local municipalities ability to provide services. If we use the same example, and consider the Homestead Exemption, the current program would have allowed the elderly homeowner to have their property taxes cut in half, so she would have continued to pay $2,500 – a 0% increase.
BUT, because the income limit on the homestead exemption is too low, she would not qualify, and therefore gets no benefit despite being about $6000 above the limit, and living in a higher cost of living area. The solution here is NOT a levy limit, it’s passing legislation like HB59 that was introduced last session, which would have updated the income eligibility requirements and allowed her to qualify since she is under 80% AMI for Forsyth County.
Now let’s look at the Circuit Breaker. As the program currently exists, the program would cap her property taxes at 5% of her income, which would be $2,250. Her property taxes would actually decrease slightly. This already exists, but because the existing program requires a deferral and lien on the property, very few homeowners want to do it AND it’s cumbersome for tax offices to keep up with. If legislation was introduced last session such as SB349, which proposed getting rid of the deferral, this would remove a key barrier to relief for many struggling homeowners across our state.
Last but certainly not least, there are also simply improvements to the revaluation schedule and state support that would make it less likely for these big shifts in property taxes to occur so suddenly. This is caused by spread out revaluations without much state support.
Upcoming Legislative Committee Meetings
To view the legislative calendar and the links to each committee’s respective materials and details, click here.
April 2026
The Governmental Operations Subcommittee on Hurricane Response & Recovery will meet on April 2 at 10am.
The House Select Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety will meet on April 14 at 10am.
The House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction and Reform will meet on April 15 at 10am.
Disaster Recovery Housing Updates
FEMA Approves Six-Month Extension of Direct Housing and Rental Assistance for Helene Survivors
FEMA has approved six-month extensions of direct temporary housing and rental assistance for survivors of Tropical Storm Helene in North Carolina. The original 18-month housing and rental assistance period was set to end on March 29, 2026
The direct temporary housing extension allows eligible residents to remain in FEMA-provided temporary housing until September 30, 2026, on a month-to-month basis as they work toward permanent housing solutions
The rental assistance extension allows survivors receiving rental assistance to continue receiving financial support to cover the cost of rent through September 30, 2026, as needed.
FEMA Appeals Deadline: March 29, 2026
FEMA appeals for Tropical Storm Helene are still expected to close on March 29. Pisgah Legal Services is still seeing neighbors throughout WNC appeal FEMA denials and receive significant amounts. Interested in filing an appeal? Review their step-by-step guide of what to include and how to file.
Local Housing Headlines
Historic Salisbury building transformed into affordable senior housing community | WRAL
Local leaders, experts to discuss housing challenges and solutions | WHQR (Winston-Salem)
Duke Commits $203 Million Over Three Years to Expand Economic Opportunity in Durham and the Triangle | Duke University
‘So much potential’: Durham relaunches effort to redevelop vacant police headquarters downtown | CBS17
Reports & Resources
New Data, New Insights: NC Housing Snapshot Updated with Latest Data | NC Housing Finance Agency
- More than 1 million low-income households in NC are cost-burdened (spending more than 30% of their gross income on housing)
- 91 counties saw median rents increase from 2023 to 2024, and 78 saw median owner costs increase.
- 98% of renter households earning less than $10,000 and 88% of renter households earning between $10,000 and $19,999 experience cost burden,while only 4% of renter households earning more than $100,000 experience cost burden. This trend is consistent amongst homeowners as well.
Land Use Reform Tracker | NYU Furman Center
Curbing Fees: How States and Cities are Addressing Up-Front Rental Costs | Joint Center for Housing Studies
Events
2026 Rural Summit | March 26-27 at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley – registration is now closed.
[webinar] Using Parcel Data to Inform Local Vacant, Abandoned, and Deteriorated (VAD) Strategies | Center for Community Progress, March 26, 12pm. Learn more and register here.
[webinar] Fair Housing Today: Foundations, Common Issues, and the Current Landscape | UNC School of Government, Tuesday, April 7, 12-1pm. Learn more and register here.
Lauren Brasil of the UNC School of Law will provide an overview of the Fair Housing Act, including the protections it provides, common issues that arise in housing discrimination cases, and the current landscape of fair housing enforcement. The webinar will include time for audience Q&A and is free and open to the public as part of the Our State, Our Homes program.
Just Economy Conference 2026 | National Community Reinvestment Coalition, April 14-15, 2026 at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Learn more and register here.
UNC School of Government Community Development Academy | April 14-16, 2026 in Chapel Hill, Course Cost: $935
2026 CAHEC Partners Conference | June 9 – 10 at the Raleigh Convention Center. Registration deadline is May 22. Learn more and register here.
