The state Senate plans to vote this week to require more public notice for property tax increases.
The bill stems from higher tax bills that result from a property revaluation process. Some local governments aren't lowering tax rates when property values increase to create a revenue-neutral rate.
Sen. Carl Ford, R-Rowan and the bill's sponsor, says that leads to higher bills that catch homeowners by surprise.
"Most people have their tax bill on their mortgage, and they will tell you — they've told me — 'we don't know. We didn't know we had a tax increase,'" Ford said during Tuesday's Senate Rules Committee meeting. "So this is making it mandatory to notify the citizens about increases in their taxes."
The bill would require local governments to hold a public hearing before setting a property tax rate above the revenue neutral level. Property owners would get notifications by mail or email about the proposal; notices would also need to appear in the local newspaper and on the government's website. Any local government that doesn't follow the process would be required to issue tax refunds.
Ford says the process will make sure that taxpayers "can have their voice heard, and provides greater transparency for county and town and city budgeting."
The bill has support from the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, which included a similar proposal in its recommendations on property taxes earlier this year.
"We are ready to do this," said Joy Hicks, a lobbyist for the group. "We know that it is important for our citizens to understand what we do and why, with the budget process and when it becomes to property taxes."
The bill is the latest effort by lawmakers to restrict local property tax increases. Here's where the other proposals stand:
- A constitutional amendment on the issue will be on November's ballot. The ballot question will ask voters if they want to place new limitations on local property taxes, but it doesn't explain what those limitations would be — that would be decided by the state legislature after the election. The bill to put the proposed amendment on the ballot passed both the House and Senate in May, mostly along party lines.
- Gov. Josh Stein last week signed into law a bill that puts a moratorium on new property tax values in several counties that recently went through the revaluation process, including Anson, Bladen, Buncombe, Davidson, Guilford, Harnett, Onslow, Pender, and Scotland. "This law provides tax relief for North Carolinians who are feeling pain in their pocketbooks," Stein said in a news release. "But the law helps residents in only a few counties, and it is not our most effective method of lowering costs."
- Another bill would tweak the moratorium counties, adding Chowan and Pamlico counties while exempting Scotland, Buncombe, and Harnett counties. That bill has passed the House and is on the Senate's calendar for Tuesday afternoon. Stein has urged legislators to pass it, saying the moratorium could harm Helene recovery if Buncombe isn't exempted.
