‘Outrage button’: Mecklenburg leaders urge NC legislators to nix property tax cap
Mecklenburg County leaders plan to push back on a proposal out of the General Assembly that would put capping property tax increases to a statewide vote.
North Carolina legislators are considering a referendum on a constitutional amendment that would instruct the General Assembly to pass “laws limiting the amount by which the levy of taxes on property may increase,” the Raleigh News & Observer reported previously.
“We really owe people a sense of predictability of what they’re looking at, in terms of their ... budgets,” Wake County Republican Rep. Erin Paré said of the idea.
County staff told Mecklenburg commissioners at their Tuesday meeting they expect the House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction and Reform to vote April 15 on whether to advance the measure . If it makes it through the legislature during the short session, it would be on the November ballot.
While “now is not the time to press the panic button,” the plan “doesn’t provide local elected officials the flexibility you need to respond to the challenges of our residents,” Mecklenburg County Manager Mike Bryant told commissioners.
“I share the goal of protecting residents from unexpected and disproportionate tax burdens caused by sharp rises in tax bills when values increase or rate changes. This just isn’t the way to do it,” Bryant said.
Property taxes account for 64% of the county’s revenue, meaning a cap could “have a major impact” on Mecklenburg’s budget, staff warned. The county’s current property tax rate is 49.27 cents per $100 of assessed value, less than the current statutory limit of $1.50 per $100 of assessed value.
“Pending what the property tax rate cap would be set to on an annual basis, it is important for you to know that the county cannot absorb this impact alone,” Bryant said Tuesday, adding he’d have to reassess how much money Mecklenburg gives to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Central Piedmont Community College and the local criminal justice system.
Commissioner Susan Rodriguez McDowell said while it may not be prudent to panic, she is “pushing the outrage button” over what the legislature is considering, noting that North Carolina is still operating without a budget because of gridlock in Raleigh.
“These are the same folks that are trying to mess with our funding mechanisms, and I just think it’s totally outrageous,” the District 6 Democrat said.
District 3 representative George Dunlap said the county needs to preemptively educate the public about the impacts of the proposed amendment ahead of a possible referendum.
“We need to raise the alarm,” he said.
County staff said they plan to send a letter to legislators urging them to vote “no” on the bill and discuss how to combine forces with the city of Charlotte and CMS to lobby against it at a joint meeting on legislative efforts April 14.
But commission Chair Mark Jerrell said the county needs to explore all of its options for combatting the potential amendment rather than “trying to bring a knife to a gunfight.”
“We’ve got to stop tip-toeing around these situations that are unfair, inequitable and unjust,” he said. “... The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. I’m not there. I’m done with that.”
This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 5:03 AM.
