In November, North Carolina voters will decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment requiring legislators to impose a state-wide levy limit on property taxes. Supporters of the bill argue that this will substantially relieve property tax burdens, especially for vulnerable homeowners. To investigate this claim, we ran an analysis to determine how a levy limit would have impacted counties and homeowners across North Carolina in the latest revaluation cycle. This retroactive analysis of how a 2% levy limit would have impacted counties during their last revaluation gives us a clear sense of the broad impact a levy limit would have in communities across the state.
Our Analysis of North Carolina’s Proposed “Property Tax Cap” found that if a levy limit had been in place, local governments would have lost over $950+ Million in critical funding to schools, transportation, and human services while saving the average NC homeowner only $84 a year in property taxes. Instead of homeowners in need of relief, the biggest tax breaks went to the state’s largest corporate landowners, including Duke Energy, Meta, Google, and out-of-state luxury apartment owners.
View key findings, interactive data, and the full report below.
Key Findings
- A Levy Limit Could Result in Significant Loss of Funding for Critical Services: Our analysis shows ~$1 Billion in revenue loss to local governments for education, public education, infrastructure, and other critical services.
- Revenue Losses are Spread Across the State: 73% of Counties and 90% of Municipalities would lose property tax revenue had a levy limit been in place. For dozens of local governments, this loss represents more than 10% of their overall property tax revenue.
- The Most Severe Revenue Losses Would Fall on Tier-1 and Disaster-Impacted Counties: Tier-1 Distressed counties would experience the largest reductions in property tax revenue, on average. Eight out of ten counties with the highest revenue losses would be in Helene-impacted Western NC. Counties with a lower-than-average property tax burden would also see large reductions.
- Municipalities Would Lose a Higher Percent of Property Tax Revenue Over Counties: On average, municipalities that we analyzed would see nearly double revenue lost compared to counties.
- Large Corporations Receive Far More Benefit Than Average Homeowner: The average homeowner would save $84 per year–or just $7 per month–while NC’s largest corporate landowners and data center owners will save millions each year.
Explore the Data
Conclusion
Based on our analysis, a statewide levy limit on property taxes would have a devastating impact on county budgets, especially for many of our small and rural counties, while primarily benefiting corporate landowners. Most homeowners would see a negligible difference in their property taxes as their local governments lose funding for core public services like schools, emergency response, trash collection, libraries, and more. A levy limit will harm communities across the state without relieving homeowners.
Real Solutions for Property Tax Relief
Rather than a levy limit, lawmakers should invest in real property tax relief for homeowners, especially those with low or fixed incomes. The Homestead Exemption and NC Circuit Breaker already exist to provide relief to homeowners most in need, and simple eligibility updates and program improvements can expand these programs to reach more cost-burdened households without undermining local revenues. Lawmakers can also support tax assessors at the local level with state-funded technical assistance that would make property taxes more fair for everyone. For more information, check out our guide to Bringing Fair and Meaningful Property Tax Relief to North Carolinians.
