Voters will decide in November whether to change the state constitution to tell the General Assembly to limit local property tax increases.
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All 30 Senate Republicans and Sen. Dan Blue (D-Wake) voted Wednesday to put the proposed constitutional amendment on local property tax limits on the November ballot.
The Senate vote was just a few hours after the House voted to add the local property tax limit to the ballot. The Senate vote was the last step that elevates the proposed amendment to a question for voters in the general election.
In addition to the local tax limit, the Senate voted to put a “right to work” constitutional amendment on the ballot. The House has not yet voted on that amendment.
Senate Republicans voted to table without debate changes Democrats offered that would add to or rewrite the constitutional language Republicans proposed.
Sen. Kandie Smith (D-Pitt) wanted to exempt local governments from a tax limit if the increases were to pay for schools and public safety. If the state forced a county into a budget shortfall, the state would make up for it.
Reductions in state funding have left local governments holding the bag, Smith said.
NC voters set to weigh in on limiting state income tax and property taxes in November
“This is a trap,” she said. “What you’ve done is you starve local government from the top down. Now you want to cap them from the bottom. Then you want to blame them when the school roof is leaking and the deputy can’t go on patrol.”
Read more NC voters set to weigh in on limiting state income tax and property taxes in November
Senate Republicans did not speak in support of the bill Wednesday, but Republican legislators have argued that local property taxes have spiraled out of control, jeopardizing the ability of residents, particularly those on fixed incomes, to stay in their homes.
Blue, the Wake Democrat, said later that he voted for the amendment because he wants to address gentrification in downtown Raleigh, where longtime residents, now retired, are paying high taxes on homes they’ve lived in for decades.
“This doesn’t give us any power we don’t already have,” Blue said of the amendment. “It doesn’t do anything specifically, except to say, ‘We’ll do our job.’ And our job ought to be how to figure out how to solve these problems on affordability, because that’s really what it’s all about.”
Right to work
As Senate Republicans moved to put a “right to work” amendment on the November ballot, Democrats argued that it is anti-union and doesn’t help workers.
“It does not say you can’t join a union,” said Sen. Carl Ford (R-Rowan). “You cannot be forced to do so.”
The amendment prohibits making union membership a job requirement. It mirrors an existing state law.
The Senate approved the amendment in a party line 30-16 vote.
Sen. Jonah Garson (D-Orange) talked about the white supremacist roots of “right to work” laws. He offered a proposed change to rewrite the amendment to raise the state minimum wage, which Republicans voted to table.
It was one a half-dozen proposed changes to the amendment Republicans defeated without debate.
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