NC legislature votes to freeze property tax assessments for some counties
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- If signed, SB 889 would freeze reassessed values in certain counties until 2027.
- The House approved Senate Bill 889 by a 72-42 vote.
- The fiscal summary projects over $9 million in 2026–27 revenue loss for eight counties.
Some property owners in North Carolina may not have to pay higher taxes due to counties reassessing their homes’ property value — yet — if a bill set to pass the General Assembly becomes law.
The House on Tuesday tentatively approved Senate Bill 889, which already passed the Senate.
The House vote was 72-42. It needs a third and final procedural vote before going to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein for action. Stein will then have 10 days to sign or veto the bill.
If it becomes law, a handful of counties would freeze their assessed property value for a year, until 2027. The bill would require counties that reappraised property values effective on Jan. 1 to wait until next year to use those new amounts.
The House passed the bill along party lines, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed. There are two unaffiliated House members; Rep. Carla Cunningham voted for the bill and Rep. Nasif Majeed voted against it. Both represent Mecklenburg County and are former Democrats who recently changed party affiliation.
If Stein vetoes the bill, Republicans, joined by Cunningham, would have the required three-fifths majority to override it. The Senate has a 30-20 Republican supermajority.
Large counties in the Triangle like Wake, Durham and Orange are not included, nor is Mecklenburg County. However, Guilford County, home to Greensboro, is included.
Some counties are not included in the bill because they are on a different revaluation schedule, and counties with populations greater than 15,000 are exempted.
Property tax legislation a key goal of House, Senate Republicans
The legislation was led by Republican Senate leader Phil Berger of Eden, who announced his plan ahead of his March primary election, which he lost. His district includes part of Guilford County.
Republicans control both chambers of the legislature and have led the charge on property tax changes, though some Democrats also support them. Stein has cautioned against limiting property taxes because local governments use that tax, along with sales tax, to fund services.
The House has had its own property tax reform priorities, and a related constitutional amendment was part of the budget deal reached in May between Berger and Republican House Speaker Destin Hall. The budget bill itself is still being written, with leaders previously telling reporters it could be ready as soon as next week.
Voters will decide in a ballot measure this fall whether to pass a constitutional amendment that would require the General Assembly to instill a property tax levy limit. There is no amount included in the constitutional amendment, so if voters pass it, lawmakers in the 2027 legislative session will decide the levy limit in new legislation.
Sen. Steve Jarvis, a Davidson County Republican who sponsored the bill with Berger, said that passing the law now extends the appeal window, allowing residents more time to challenge revaluations, and gives the legislature more time to instill property tax reforms.
Rep. Alison Dahle, a Wake County Democrat, said in committee that her concern is property owners could “get another huge shocker” when revaluations return. She asked Jarvis how he hopes it will play out.
“This is just a stopgap,” he said.
Rep. Amos Quick, a Guilford County Democrat, said property taxes are “a bipartisan issue everyone is concerned about.”
Quick and other Democrats representing Guilford County disagree with the bill, Quick said during the floor debate. He said that the bill would negatively impact Guilford County Schools and raises for law enforcement and first responders.
A summary of fiscal impact for SB 889 shows more than $9 million in expected revenue loss for 2026-27 for eight counties.
The largest tax loss would be $4.3 million for Guilford, followed by $2 million for Buncombe and $849,000 for Davidson County. However, that also means that property owners in those counties, if the bill becomes law, will not have to pay increased taxes this year based only on a new assessment.
“We agree something has to be done about property taxes. .... This ain’t it,” Quick said.
But Rep. John Blust, a Republican who also represents Guilford County, said that after Guilford County’s revaluations came out in February, county commissioner meetings were packed with residents.
Blust said that he was ready to vote on the bill in early May, which is the timeframe Berger wanted.
Hall told The News & Observer as he talked with reporters after the voting session that the reason for the delay was so House members could have more time to talk with county commissioners and city councils.
“We wanted to give them time to have that feedback,” and are passing it now because it’s budget season for local governments, Hall said.
He said the final vote will be taken by the House on Wednesday, when he also expects them to take up a second bill about the moratorium.
Changes may be made to reassessment moratorium
The other bill, Senate Bill 474, would add more counties to the list and extend the time period for challenging assessed values.
Lawmakers gutted the original SB 474, which dealt with the state auditor, and turned it into a bill that changes some of the details of SB 889. If both bills become law, the population threshold for counties exempted from the moratorium would be set at 12,000, rather than the 15,000 level of the first bill.
Chowan and Pamlico counties would be added to the property tax revaluation moratorium, and Harnett and Scotland counties would also be exempted.
That bill passed the House Rules Committee on Tuesday, which is the last stop before a floor vote.
Local governments passing budgets with property tax rates now
While the legislature doesn’t have to pass a state budget by June 30, local governments must pass their budgets by that date, which is the end of the fiscal year.
Many have already set the amount of property tax increases, or decided not to raise residents’ taxes. Durham County approved its budget on Monday, including a property tax increase.
Local taxes fund services like police departments, infrastructure, parks, schools, fire departments and other city and county services. Counties assess property values on a regular basis, with some localities doing so more frequently than others.
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 5:56 PM.
