NC voters face three constitutional amendments

Property tax limits

North Carolina voters will decide whether the state constitution should require lawmakers to limit how much property tax revenue local governments may collect each year. Voting for the amendment would require the General Assembly to establish those limits; voting against it would leave the constitution unchanged.

Rick Su, a University of North Carolina School of Law professor, said the measure would move some authority over local budgets from locally elected officials to state lawmakers. That could give the General Assembly a greater role in decisions involving local priorities and services.

State income tax ceiling

A vote for it would establish the lower ceiling, while a vote against it would retain the 7% cap.

The ceiling is not the same as the tax rate residents currently pay. State law is already set to reduce individual and corporate income tax rates. Su said the amendment therefore would not have an immediate effect but would require another statewide vote before lawmakers could set the personal income tax rate above 3.5% in the future.

Photo ID for mail voting

The third proposal would extend North Carolina’s constitutional photo identification requirement to mail-in ballots. The state already requires photo identification for in-person voting.

Voting for the amendment would place a mail-voting photo ID requirement in the constitution. Voting against it would leave the existing constitutional language unchanged. Su said putting the requirement in the constitution could make future changes more difficult and could create additional steps for mail voters. Each of the three proposals will appear as a separate choice, allowing voters to vote for or against each one.