April 16, 2026
What the proposal would do
A draft bill under discussion in the General Assembly would place a constitutional amendment before voters requiring the legislature to enact a statewide limit on how much local property tax levy revenue may grow from year to year. This proposal goes beyond tax rates. It would limit how much property tax revenue a local government can increase each year, subject to any exceptions the General Assembly may choose to allow. The draft states that the General Assembly “shall enact general laws limiting the amount by which the levy of taxes on property may increase, which may include exceptions.”
Why it matters to Centralina
For Centralina communities, this issue deserves close attention. The proposal would apply broadly to local governments, and for a growing region, the structure of any levy limit matters. Communities across the region are managing continued growth, infrastructure needs, public safety demands, and service pressures that do not always fit neatly within a one-size-fits-all statewide constraint.
What the bill does not yet do
At this point, the draft bill does not establish the actual cap itself. Instead, it would amend the Constitution to require the General Assembly to later pass a general law creating the limit. That means many of the most important details remain unknown, including how the cap would be calculated and what exceptions, if any, would be included.
What happens next
The bill draft provides that the constitutional amendment would be submitted to voters at the November 3, 2026 statewide general election. If approved by voters, it would become effective upon certification of the election results.
It is also important to note that this proposal is not law. While the concept has already advanced out of committee, the bill will still need to be formally filed in the short session and move through the normal legislative process in both chambers before it can be placed on the ballot. In other words, there is still time for the proposal to change, and many of the most consequential policy decisions have not yet been made.
What we still do not know
From a regional perspective, one of the biggest unanswered questions is how future implementing legislation would account for the realities of growth. Factors such as population growth and inflation will likely be part of that discussion, but nothing is in writing yet. It is also unclear whether new construction and development would be excluded from the cap, and whether exceptions would be made for voter-approved investments or emergency needs. Those details will determine whether this becomes a targeted guardrail or a more significant constraint on local government flexibility.
Bottom line
We will continue monitoring this proposal as the short session begins, particularly for any movement on bill filing, legislative language, and potential exceptions that could affect the region’s ability to grow and serve residents effectively.
