2026 ballot measure forecast

North Carolina Property Tax Limit Amendment

Require limits on local property tax increases

Requires the General Assembly to enact limits on how much local governments can raise property taxes. The forecast has Yes at 72.8 percent against the 50 percent it needs, a >99% chance to pass.

Very likely to passConstitutional amendment referred by the legislatureProperty taxUpdated October 22, 2026
Chance to pass
>99%
2,000 simulations
Forecast Yes
72.8%
80% range 66 to 79
Needs
50%
a simple majority
Polling average
76.7%
Yes, with undecided split two to one for No
Where the Yes vote lands
needs 50
2035506580
History and structure
67.4% Yes
Polls
76.7% Yes
Forecast
72.8% Yes
Yes leans
Republican
The campaign

Backed by Republican legislators incl. Senate Leader Berger; local government advocates and Democrats warn of service cuts; targeted by the campaign against the two tax amendments.

Property Tax Limit Amendment by county

Alamance CountyAlexander CountyAlleghany CountyAnson CountyAshe CountyAvery CountyBeaufort CountyBertie CountyBladen CountyBrunswick CountyBuncombe CountyBurke CountyCabarrus CountyCaldwell CountyCamden CountyCarteret CountyCaswell CountyCatawba CountyChatham CountyCherokee CountyChowan CountyClay CountyCleveland CountyColumbus CountyCraven CountyCumberland CountyCurrituck CountyDare CountyDavidson CountyDavie CountyDuplin CountyDurham CountyEdgecombe CountyForsyth CountyFranklin CountyGaston CountyGates CountyGraham CountyGranville CountyGreene CountyGuilford CountyHalifax CountyHarnett CountyHaywood CountyHenderson CountyHertford CountyHoke CountyHyde CountyIredell CountyJackson CountyJohnston CountyJones CountyLee CountyLenoir CountyLincoln CountyMcDowell CountyMacon CountyMadison CountyMartin CountyMecklenburg CountyMitchell CountyMontgomery CountyMoore CountyNash CountyNew Hanover CountyNorthampton CountyOnslow CountyOrange CountyPamlico CountyPasquotank CountyPender CountyPerquimans CountyPerson CountyPitt CountyPolk CountyRandolph CountyRichmond CountyRobeson CountyRockingham CountyRowan CountyRutherford CountySampson CountyScotland CountyStanly CountyStokes CountySurry CountySwain CountyTransylvania CountyTyrrell CountyUnion CountyVance CountyWake CountyWarren CountyWashington CountyWatauga CountyWayne CountyWilkes CountyWilson CountyYadkin CountyYancey CountyWakeMecklenburgGuilfordDurhamBuncombeNew HanoverCumberlandUnionJohnstonCabarrusIredellDavidson
No +30Yes +30Click a county to zoom · arrow keys step through counties by size
Where the margin is won
Wake County: Yes +191,093Mecklenburg County: Yes +153,573Guilford County: Yes +83,711Forsyth County: Yes +63,099Union County: Yes +49,824Buncombe County: Yes +49,038New Hanover County: Yes +46,491Johnston County: Yes +43,146Cumberland County: Yes +42,982Gaston County: Yes +42,740Iredell County: Yes +40,751Cabarrus County: Yes +39,851Brunswick County: Yes +39,832Durham County: Yes +37,396Davidson County: Yes +37,125Catawba County: Yes +33,257Randolph County: Yes +31,796Alamance County: Yes +31,059Onslow County: Yes +30,669Rowan County: Yes +28,829Pitt County: Yes +27,831Henderson County: Yes +25,889Moore County: Yes +23,828Harnett County: Yes +22,381Lincoln County: Yes +22,015Orange County: Yes +21,677Craven County: Yes +20,422Wayne County: Yes +19,622Cleveland County: Yes +19,620Rockingham County: Yes +19,112Carteret County: Yes +18,866Burke County: Yes +18,180Caldwell County: Yes +17,801Nash County: Yes +17,693Chatham County: Yes +16,786Robeson County: Yes +16,609Wilkes County: Yes +15,879Surry County: Yes +15,719Stanly County: Yes +14,874Franklin County: Yes +14,556Rutherford County: Yes +14,377Haywood County: Yes +14,372Pender County: Yes +14,147Wilson County: Yes +13,079Stokes County: Yes +11,689Granville County: Yes +11,304Watauga County: Yes +11,016Davie County: Yes +10,858Lee County: Yes +10,589Columbus County: Yes +10,491Sampson County: Yes +10,441Beaufort County: Yes +10,396McDowell County: Yes +9,783Lenoir County: Yes +9,465Alexander County: Yes +9,340Dare County: Yes +9,203Yadkin County: Yes +9,070Macon County: Yes +8,950Duplin County: Yes +8,612Person County: Yes +8,238Transylvania County: Yes +7,904Jackson County: Yes +7,859Cherokee County: Yes +7,768Halifax County: Yes +7,190Currituck County: Yes +7,182Pasquotank County: Yes +7,110Richmond County: Yes +7,101Edgecombe County: Yes +6,996Hoke County: Yes +6,966Ashe County: Yes +6,849Bladen County: Yes +6,216Vance County: Yes +6,129Madison County: Yes +5,256Montgomery County: Yes +5,154Scotland County: Yes +5,064Polk County: Yes +5,055Yancey County: Yes +4,706Caswell County: Yes +4,481Martin County: Yes +4,309Avery County: Yes +4,210Mitchell County: Yes +3,979Anson County: Yes +3,621Clay County: Yes +3,304Pamlico County: Yes +3,260Greene County: Yes +3,206Perquimans County: Yes +3,129Warren County: Yes +3,110Northampton County: Yes +2,962Alleghany County: Yes +2,927Chowan County: Yes +2,911Bertie County: Yes +2,870Hertford County: Yes +2,805Swain County: Yes +2,627Camden County: Yes +2,604Graham County: Yes +2,223Gates County: Yes +2,206Jones County: Yes +2,076Washington County: Yes +1,921Hyde County: Yes +937Tyrrell County: Yes +669
Yes +1,897,894 net votes from 100 countiesStatewide Yes +45.6, a 1,897,894 vote marginNo +0 net votes from 0 counties

Projected vote

4,159,482 votes on the question
ChoiceVotesShare
Yes3,028,68872.8%
No1,130,79427.2%
Total4,159,482100%
CountyYesNoTotalYes share
Wake County341,669150,576492,24569.4%
Mecklenburg County285,920132,347418,26768.4%
Guilford County146,87363,162210,03569.9%
Forsyth County106,38143,282149,66371.1%
Durham County90,29652,900143,19663.1%
Buncombe County87,30738,269125,57669.5%
New Hanover County74,64028,149102,78972.6%
Cumberland County72,57829,596102,17471.0%
Union County73,40023,57696,97675.7%
Johnston County64,30421,15885,46275.2%
Cabarrus County62,11622,26584,38173.6%
Gaston County63,02020,28083,30075.7%
Brunswick County58,77018,93877,70875.6%
Iredell County58,72117,97076,69176.6%
Orange County46,10524,42870,53365.4%
Alamance County48,34117,28265,62373.7%
Davidson County51,23914,11465,35378.4%
Pitt County45,59317,76263,35572.0%
Catawba County47,16513,90861,07377.2%
Onslow County43,75213,08356,83577.0%
Rowan County41,13812,30953,44777.0%
Randolph County42,58210,78653,36879.8%
Henderson County39,44813,55953,00774.4%
Moore County34,65910,83145,49076.2%
Harnett County32,98710,60643,59375.7%
Craven County30,51910,09740,61675.1%
Wayne County29,72610,10439,83074.6%
Chatham County28,23211,44639,67871.2%
Lincoln County30,5198,50439,02378.2%
Nash County28,16110,46838,62972.9%
Cleveland County28,0808,46036,54076.8%
Rockingham County27,2768,16435,44077.0%
Carteret County26,3547,48833,84277.9%
Burke County25,5407,36032,90077.6%
Robeson County24,2987,68931,98776.0%
Caldwell County24,1776,37630,55379.1%
Franklin County22,2527,69629,94874.3%
Wilson County20,9807,90128,88172.6%
Haywood County21,1816,80927,99075.7%
Surry County21,3055,58626,89179.2%
Pender County20,2446,09726,34176.9%
Wilkes County21,1105,23126,34180.1%
Stanly County20,3095,43525,74478.9%
Rutherford County19,8095,43225,24178.5%
Watauga County18,0497,03325,08272.0%
Granville County17,5216,21723,73873.8%
Lee County15,9865,39721,38374.8%
Lenoir County14,8025,33720,13973.5%
Sampson County15,1784,73719,91576.2%
Beaufort County15,0524,65619,70876.4%
Columbus County15,0874,59619,68376.6%
Stokes County15,5393,85019,38980.1%
Davie County15,0094,15119,16078.3%
Dare County13,8354,63218,46774.9%
Edgecombe County12,3175,32117,63869.8%
Halifax County12,3665,17617,54270.5%
McDowell County13,4233,64017,06378.7%
Jackson County12,1804,32116,50173.8%
Duplin County12,5513,93916,49076.1%
Macon County12,6913,74116,43277.2%
Transylvania County12,1374,23316,37074.1%
Person County12,1963,95816,15475.5%
Hoke County11,4104,44415,85472.0%
Alexander County12,4063,06615,47280.2%
Pasquotank County11,1924,08215,27473.3%
Yadkin County11,9492,87914,82880.6%
Vance County10,3444,21514,55971.0%
Richmond County10,6083,50714,11575.2%
Cherokee County10,3912,62313,01479.8%
Currituck County9,8892,70712,59678.5%
Bladen County9,3003,08412,38475.1%
Ashe County9,5292,68012,20978.0%
Scotland County7,9162,85210,76873.5%
Madison County7,7832,52710,31075.5%
Polk County7,4512,3969,84775.7%
Montgomery County7,3142,1609,47477.2%
Martin County6,6592,3509,00973.9%
Yancey County6,7442,0388,78276.8%
Caswell County6,6182,1378,75575.6%
Anson County5,7482,1277,87573.0%
Warren County5,3842,2747,65870.3%
Hertford County5,0382,2337,27169.3%
Avery County5,7221,5127,23479.1%
Northampton County5,0242,0627,08670.9%
Bertie County4,8932,0236,91670.7%
Mitchell County5,3521,3736,72579.6%
Greene County4,8311,6256,45674.8%
Pamlico County4,7061,4466,15276.5%
Chowan County4,3271,4165,74375.3%
Clay County4,5221,2185,74078.8%
Perquimans County4,4171,2885,70577.4%
Swain County3,8891,2625,15175.5%
Alleghany County3,9831,0565,03979.0%
Camden County3,5559514,50678.9%
Washington County3,1501,2294,37971.9%
Gates County3,2871,0814,36875.3%
Jones County3,0559794,03475.7%
Graham County2,9156923,60780.8%
Hyde County1,3954581,85375.3%
Tyrrell County9973281,32575.2%

Projected 2026 votes: each county's expected turnout, less the roughly 6 percent of voters who skip a ballot question, times its forecast Yes share. The measure needs 50.0 percent Yes to pass.

Polls of the measure

2 polls
PollsterSampleEndedYesNoUndecidedYes, adjusted
Elon University Poll / YouGov LV2026-08-3172141476.7%
YouGov1,000 A79
How this is built
Property Tax Limit Amendment is forecast as a property tax measure whose Yes vote leans Republican. Comparable measures from 2018 to 2024 set how far its Yes share moves with North Carolina's partisanship and with each county's 2024 presidential vote, and how it reached the ballot moves it further. Polls then pull the forecast toward them by recency and size, after splitting undecided voters two to one for No. Sources: s3.amazonaws.com, theballotbrief.com, ncnewsline.com, elon.edu. All measures.