RALEIGH, N.C. — Flip the ballot over this fall and North Carolina voters will find three proposed changes to the state Constitution, two dealing with taxes and one with how people prove who they are before casting a ballot.
Each one was put there by the General Assembly. Writing a rule into the Constitution is a steeper climb than passing a law: three-fifths of legislators must agree, and then a majority of voters must say yes on Nov. 3. Undoing it later takes the same two steps.
The first measure would keep the state income tax rate from ever climbing above 3.5%, for people and for corporations. The current ceiling of 7% dates to a 2018 amendment. Today the personal rate is 3.99%, and a provision in the budget passed in July already schedules a drop to 3.49% in 2027. The amendment would not change anyone’s bill now, but it would block future legislatures from raising the rate past the cap without another statewide vote.
The second measure targets property taxes, which in North Carolina are set and collected only by counties and cities to pay for things such as schools, public safety and trash pickup. The amendment would direct lawmakers to cap how much local governments can raise through property taxes. It does not name a number. The legislature would write the limit after the vote, and backers point to inflation and population growth as the likely yardsticks.
The third measure would extend the photo ID requirement in the Constitution to every voter, including those who vote by mail. A 2018 amendment covered only in-person voting. Lawmakers approved the new language in December 2024, and because that came just after a statewide election, it was held for this year’s ballot. State law already asks absentee voters to include a copy of their ID or an exception form, so the practical effect would be to lock that rule in.
Republican legislators who back the package say it shields taxpayers and makes elections more secure. County and city leaders, education groups and many Democrats counter that the tax caps would squeeze money for schools, teacher pay supplements and disaster response, and that the ID measure adds an unneeded hurdle.
An Elon University poll taken in August found strong early support for all three: 72% of likely voters favored the property tax limit, 67% backed the income tax cap and 63% supported the voter ID amendment.
Section: More Raleigh NC politics news
Filed under: Raleigh NC Politics News
