John Blust Pushing State Limits On Property Taxes

He knows the people of Guiford County are at risk of facing mammoth increases.

Scott Yost, Rhino Times: (I am excerpting heavily)

A warning came through clearly recently from longtime Guilford County legislator Rep. John Blust during remarks to the Summerfield Town Council, where he said residents should brace themselves for what could be a “whopping property tax increase” in 2026 if city and county leaders fail to act.

Blust said he’s hearing about property taxes constantly across his district – and experiencing the burden himself.

He said he just did the monthly math for his own house.

“I myself am paying $350 a month to the county for the privilege of living in the house that I own,” he said at the packed meeting.

Blust said that reality raises a fundamental question about ownership.

“At what time, at what point, are you paying so much that you’re not really the owner of that property – you’re renting it from the government, and they can come take it if you don’t pay the taxes?” he asked.

Guilford County is already an outlier in North Carolina when it comes to property taxes, with one of the highest combined county and municipal rates in the state. Revaluation itself doesn’t automatically increase taxes, but it resets property values to current market levels. Unless governing boards deliberately lower tax rates to offset higher valuations, tax bills rise – sometimes sharply – even if homeowners make no improvements to their property.

In 2022, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners showed property owners no mercy in that regard and all signs are that 2026 will be the same. After all, the county has approved all sorts of things like higher pay for employees and new projects and the county is staring down a $3 billion plus school debt problem.

Blust said that dynamic is going to collide with economic reality next year.

“I think coming up in 2026, property taxes are going to be a big issue for people in this county,” he said.

Blust told the Town Council that concern has finally gained traction at the highest levels of state government. He said the Speaker of the North Carolina House has appointed a special committee to study whether the state should intervene in the property tax system.

Blust confirmed that he and Rep. Alan Branson, whose district also includes parts of Guilford County, will now serve on the committee after Blust contacted House leadership directly.

“I didn’t see my name on it, so I called them today and told them, ‘Look, Guilford County is by far the highest property tax rate,’” Blust said. “He’s going to add myself and Alan Branson to that committee, so we’ll be looking at that.”

The committee is expected to examine whether changes to state law could provide relief to homeowners, particularly in counties (like Guilford County) where repeated revaluations and aggressive local spending have combined to drive taxes steadily higher.

Blust emphasized that the legislature isn’t currently in session and won’t reconvene until May, meaning no immediate fix is possible. Still, he said the formation of the committee signals growing awareness in Raleigh that property taxes have become unsustainable in some parts of the state…

Revaluations are intended to reflect real market conditions, and in a county that has seen strong housing demand and rising prices, those new values are expected to be significantly higher than the last assessment. Without a corresponding rate reduction, homeowners could see increases measured in hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year.

Blust said that reality is already sinking in for many constituents.

“That’s something I get a lot of in this district especially – how much property taxes have gone up and how burdensome they are,” he said…

Blust said the state has a responsibility to step in when the system begins to undermine basic notions of ownership and fairness.

“When you’re paying that much every month just to stay in your own house,” he said, “people start asking whether something’s broken.”

With revaluation numbers expected to become public next year and budgets soon to follow, Blust predicted property taxes will dominate local political conversations in 2026.

Whether the General Assembly – and the new House committee – can offer meaningful protection to Guilford County residents remains an open question. What is clear is that without deliberate action, the next round of tax bills could push an already sensitive issue to the breaking point.

One possible backstop for Guilford County homeowners is a state bill now sitting in the General Assembly that’s aimed squarely at revaluation-driven tax hikes. House Bill 539 would require counties and municipalities to adopt a revenue-neutral tax rate in any year when a general property revaluation takes effect. In plain terms, that would mean local governments couldn’t automatically collect more total property tax revenue simply because assessed values jumped.

If property values rise across the board after revaluation, the tax rate would have to be adjusted downward to keep overall revenue flat – unless elected officials take an explicit, separate vote to raise taxes.

Supporters of the bill argue that it would force transparency and discipline into the revaluation process, preventing what many homeowners experience as a quiet tax increase hidden inside rising property values.

R Blust has pointed to this type of legislation as a necessary protection, particularly in high-tax counties like Guilford, where the next revaluation is expected to produce sharp increases in assessed values. The bill has received its initial reading and been sent to committee, but it hasn’t yet moved forward for a full vote, leaving its future uncertain.

Still, with lawmakers now openly acknowledging that revaluation years can translate into major tax shocks for homeowners, House Bill 539 has become part of a broader conversation in Raleigh about whether the state should step in before local tax bills spiral higher again.