Budget & Taxes

House Bill 432 aims to provide various forms of property tax relief to North Carolina homeowners. It increases the property tax exclusion amounts for qualifying elderly or disabled homeowners and expands the exclusion for disabled veterans, allowing more of their home's value to be exempt from taxation. The bill also establishes a new "Homeowner Advantage Property Tax Relief Program" designed to cap the annual increase in a permanent residence's taxable value, based on inflation and a cumulative limit. To qualify for this program, homeowners must have occupied their residence for at least two years. Additionally, the bill creates an "Elderly Property Tax Homestead Circuit Breaker Program" and exemptions from the forced sale of a homestead.

HB 149 creates a pilot program allowing eligible North Carolina school districts (those with at least 5,000 students and tax authority) to submit a Financial and Hiring Flexibility Plan (FHFP) to the State Board of Education. The plan permits districts to use state funds more flexibly and hire up to 50% unlicensed teachers (who must complete specific training in disability education, behavior management, and safety) while meeting defined academic goals by 2030-2031, such as 100% student career planning and 90% teacher retention. The State Board reviews plans annually and can terminate them if districts fail to meet goals, violate fiscal rules, or have low-performing schools. This program aims to give districts operational flexibility to improve student outcomes, subject to state oversight and performance metrics.

HB 143 authorizes the Town of Maysville to impose a 6% occupancy tax on rental income from hotels, motels, and similar accommodations already subject to North Carolina's sales tax. This tax applies to all qualifying accommodations within Maysville and is collected separately from state and local sales taxes. Revenue from the tax must be sent quarterly to the Maysville Tourism Development Authority, which is required to use at least two-thirds of the funds for tourism promotion (like advertising and marketing) and the remainder for tourism-related expenses such as facility improvements. The bill also creates the Tourism Development Authority, requiring at least one-third of its members to represent tax-collecting businesses and half to be active in tourism promotion.

HB 48 raises North Carolina's maximum weekly unemployment benefit from $350 to $400 for claimants filing on or after March 2, 2025, directly affecting unemployed workers. It also creates a 2025 tax credit for employers, allowing them to offset unemployment insurance taxes paid on 2024 fourth-quarter wages against their 2025 tax liability. The credit applies only to contributions remitted by January 31, 2025, and must be claimed via a specific report. The bill ratifies a governor's temporary disaster-related unemployment expansion but focuses on permanent changes to benefit levels and employer tax treatment.