For a lot of North Carolina families, the household budget isn’t just tight right now; it’s stretched to the breaking point.
Gas costs more. Groceries cost more. Housing and health care, child care and insurance, electricity and phone bills–all of them are up. Everyone has less at the end of the month than they used to.
North Carolina’s gerrymandered state legislature has placed three constitutional amendments on the ballot this fall.
One amendment would set a permanent cap on the personal income tax rate. The second would require some kind of unspecified limit on property tax increases, and the third would expand the constitutional photo ID requirement to voters who cast their ballots by mail.
Carolina Forward recommends voting AGAINST all three.
The Income Tax Cap
The income tax amendment (SB 1080) would reduce the maximum personal income tax rate allowed under the North Carolina Constitution from 7% to 3.5%. The amendment doesn’t actually lower taxes itself–that’s happening because of a different law which will drop the personal income tax rate to 3.49% in 2027 and 2.99% in 2028.
The top 1% of North Carolinians earn more than $867,000 each year. The top 5% earn more than $324,000, and the top 20% earn more than $140,000 per year. One analysis estimates that tax cuts like these will excuse North Carolinians earning more than $770,000 from $25,000 in income taxes, while people earning less than $25,000 save just $34.
When the state faces serious natural disasters, a big economic crash, or just a widespread demand for more affordable health care and better public education, one thing our legislators could do is tax the highest earners at a slightly higher rate than folks struggling to make ends meet.
That option goes away if this amendment passes.
Why put a permanent tax cap in the Constitution at all? Who benefits?
The big winners are people who own multiple businesses, run big corporations, or earn massive investment income. The rest of us see relatively small changes in personal finance, but big changes to the services we rely on, like public schools, roads, state parks, and hospitals.
Constitutional amendments require the support of 72 House Reps and 30 Senators to reach the ballot. The current legislature was only able to hit those numbers thanks to extreme partisan gerrymandering. If a cap like this passes, it will be very hard to ever undo.
Limiting Property Tax Increases
The property tax amendment (HB 1089) would require the General Assembly to come up with some system to limit how much local governments can increase the total amount of property tax revenue they collect. The state has already established a maximum property tax rate for towns and counties.
The biggest winners of any property tax increase limit will be Duke Energy and other big corporations. The North Carolina Housing Coalition identified an average saving of just $84 dollars for North Carolina homeowners. Carolina Forward’s own forthcoming analysis suggests that, if every county statewide had to give up 1 cent on the property tax rate, the median North Carolina homeowner would keep $33 while Duke Energy would claw back $96,000.
When home values rise quickly, homeowners can face a real affordability challenge. Research from the UNC School of Government examines how rising property values and the appraisal process can contribute to affordability challenges.
But a statewide constitutional limit doesn’t necessarily address the underlying problem.
Local governments use property tax revenue to pay for the services people depend on every day: school and community college facilities, police and fire protection, emergency medical services, roads, parks, libraries, infrastructure and other community services. They’re the only revenue source that local elected officials directly control.
A constitutional limit could leave local governments with less flexibility to respond to emergencies, disasters, or new demands for services and facilities from residents.
If affordability is the goal, there are more targeted tools available. North Carolina could expand property tax relief for seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income homeowners, increase eligibility thresholds, or tweak the existing circuit-breaker program, which discounts property taxes for low-income households.
A broad tax cap just means bumpier roads, crumbling schools and sidewalks, and fewer ambulances.
Voter ID Constitutional Amendment
The third amendment (SB 921) would expand the North Carolina Constitution’s photo ID requirement so that it applies to all voters, regardless of how they cast their ballot.
Under the current NC Constitution, photo identification is required for voters casting ballots in person. State law already requires absentee-by-mail voters to provide a copy of an acceptable photo ID or complete an ID Exception Form if they qualify for an exception. The proposed amendment would move that broader requirement into the Constitution.
The larger question for voters is whether this additional constitutional restriction is necessary when requirements already exist in state law and whether election rules that may need to evolve belong in the Constitution.
The Amendments Are A Money Grab
North Carolina should be looking for ways to make life more manageable for families—not locking future generations into policies that give state and local governments fewer options when circumstances change. Approving these amendments is tantamount to giving away voters’ power. It means giving away the ability to change future laws by simple legislative majority. Instead, it will require either extreme gerrymandering, or a generational landslide — highly unlikely in a true 50/50 state like North Carolina.
That’s why Carolina Forward is urging North Carolinians to preserve their power, see through the scam, and vote AGAINST all three constitutional amendments on November 3.
The goal hasn’t changed: a North Carolina where everyone can afford to live, work, and raise a family. These amendments won’t bring us any closer to that future.
