60 days until Election Day·
Last updated
·
Drawn from official records
On the November 3 ballot
A statewide property-tax levy limit is going to the voters.
House Bill 1089 (Session Law 2026-5) was signed May 21, 2026. It places a
constitutional amendment on the November 3 ballot. The amendment would
require the General Assembly to cap how fast a local government’s
total property-tax revenue can grow each year. It is not a cap on
any one household’s bill.
If you only remember one thing
Your 2026 Guilford County tax bill uses 2025 assessed values because of
the SB 889 reappraisal moratorium. The 2026 reappraisal values are
scheduled to show up on the 2027 bill.
Who decides the amendment
Statewide voters on Nov. 3
Who sets Guilford’s rate
Board of Commissioners, in the annual budget
What you can do this month
Read the explainer. Confirm your registration. Ask the county how your parcel is valued.
Statewide first, then the Guilford and Triad races this desk is tracking.
This is a voter guide, not a sample ballot — confirm your contests at the State Board of Elections.
Statewide question
Constitutional amendment from HB 1089. The ballot language reads:
“Constitutional amendment requiring limits on property tax increases by local governments.”
What that means in practice: the General Assembly would have to cap growth in a
local government’s total property-tax revenue, with exceptions
still to be written into implementing law. It does not freeze one household’s bill.
Status, date, and why it matters in Guilford — not a photo with a slogan.
Figures below are from the public record as of September 4, 2026.
On the ballot
HB 1089 signed May 21 · SB 889 signed June 19
Affordability & property tax
Levy-limit amendment heads to voters November 3. The reappraisal
moratorium means 2026 Guilford bills use 2025 values; 2026 values are
slated for the 2027 bill. County rate for FY2027 is 78.95 cents.
Adopted operations funding for Guilford County Schools is $288.1 million —
$5.6 million, or 2%, above the prior year — plus $26.9 million in
property-tax revenue for school-bond debt service. The manager’s May plan,
written before SB 889, had proposed $307.5 million for GCS.
Sheriff performance review last published with the June brief
Public safety & the jail
Statewide public-safety bills plus the local issues voters actually
feel: jail staffing, inmate safety, and deputy recruitment. Sheriff
Danny Rogers is scored as a performance review, separate from the
legislative vote gauge, and is on the November ballot against Phil Byrd.
Legislative scores are a record of tracked 2025–26 votes, not a character judgment
and not an endorsement. Affordability, housing, and property-tax items are weighted
more heavily than other bills. Local offices that set Guilford’s rate are not scored yet.
Legislative scorecards
Same bill set, same session, so you can compare members who represent
the Triad. These previews are sitting members with published cards —
not a prediction of November.
Senate 26 on Nov. 3 is Page vs. Luking.
Phil Berger remains the sitting senator through the current term and
still has a session scorecard (+9 / 9 on the tracked package). He is
not the Republican nominee.
John Blust · House 62+9 / 9 on tracked bills
Alan Branson · House 59+9 / 9 on tracked bills
Gladys Robinson · Senate 28–5 / 9 on tracked bills
Danny Rogers · Guilford Sheriff73 / 100 · June performance review
A low score means the member voted against this session’s tracked package —
often along party lines on this particular bill set. Read the votes before
you read any thermometer. Labels such as “hot / cool” on inner pages describe
alignment with those bills, not fitness for office.
Who represents me?
We do not store addresses. Official lookups take you to Guilford County,
the General Assembly, and the State Board of Elections. Come back here
for the scorecard and the brief.
Guilford’s tax rate is set on Market Street, not only in Raleigh.
Start with the county elections map to see your commissioner district
and school-board district. Vote logs for those boards are the next
scorecards this project still needs to publish.
How the scores work
The method belongs next to the numbers. A standalone methodology page should follow;
until it does, this is the rule set behind the gauges.
Legislators are scored on the same 2025–26 tracked bill set. Affordability, housing, and property-tax items are weighted more heavily than the rest of the package.
The current package mixes those pocketbook bills with public-safety and education items. That is why Republicans on the tracked set cluster near +9 / 9 and Democrats near –5 / 9. A split score — affordability separate from public safety — is the next version of the card.
A low score is a record of votes against the tracked package, not a character judgment.
The sheriff card is a separate performance review on a 100-point scale. Do not compare 73 / 100 with +9 / 9.
Scorecards are not endorsements. Our Piedmont Education Foundation does not support or oppose candidates or parties.
Full footnotes live on each individual card at
candidate-scorecard.php.
To send a correction, call
(336) 860-7600
or write Suite 605 / PO Box 10142.
Myth vs. fact
Short claims circulating around the revaluation, the county budget, and
the November amendment — checked against the primary source.
Incomplete
“The levy limit caps my tax bill.”
HB 1089 directs the General Assembly to limit growth in a local
government’s total property-tax revenue, with exceptions
still to be written into implementing law. It does not freeze the bill
for a single house or business.
The moratorium keeps 2026 reappraisal values off the 2026 bill. Guilford
County still adopted a FY2027 rate of 78.95 cents — 5.9 cents higher
than the prior year — and 2026 values are scheduled for the 2027 bill.
Local budget coverage of the June 25 adoption cited about $92.7 million
as the property-tax revenue the county had projected from 2026 values and
did not collect this year after the moratorium. That is a forecast gap,
not cash that vanished from an existing account. The adopted General Fund
is $889.2 million, down from the manager’s pre-moratorium $935.5 million plan.
Statewide election calendar from the N.C. State Board of Elections, plus
the local tax date still on the county clock.
September 4, 2026
Absentee ballots available
Mail ballots begin going out to voters who requested one. No excuse required in North Carolina.
October 9, 5 p.m.
Registration deadline
Regular voter registration for the November 3 election. Same-day registration is available later at early-voting sites.
October 15–31
Early voting
In-person early voting runs Thursday, Oct. 15 through 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31. Absentee requests close Oct. 20 at 5 p.m.
November 3, 2026
Election Day
Statewide races, Triad legislative seats, the Guilford sheriff’s race, and the property-tax levy-limit amendment.
December 31, 2026
Appeal this year’s tax bill
Guilford property owners can appeal the FY2027 bill — the one based on 2025 values — through Dec. 31.
2027 tax year
Reappraisal values arrive
County officials say 2026 assessed values apply to the next bill. Commissioners will set a new rate against that larger base.
Election dates:
NCSBE upcoming election.
Tax dates from Guilford County and contemporaneous local reporting.
Who we are
Our Piedmont Education Foundation is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) public charity.
We exist to help residents across Guilford County and the wider Piedmont
Triad understand the decisions that shape daily life — budgets, public
safety, schools, and the cost of living.
We do not endorse or oppose candidates or parties. We gather information
from official records and verifiable sources, then present it in plain
language so you can reach your own conclusions.
Who keeps the desk, how we score, and how to send a correction:
about.php.
Suite 605, 301 S Elm Street, Greensboro ·
(336) 860-7600.
Public SafetyResponsible BudgetsEducation AccountabilityEconomic Opportunity
What you will find here
Trackers with a status, a date, and a source.
Issue briefs that explain the trade-offs and who decides.
Scorecards drawn from roll calls and official records.
Myth vs. fact checks against the primary document.
Subscribe if you want the desk in your inbox. If you can take notes at a
hearing or help translate the tax explainer into Spanish, say so when you sign up.
Help keep the facts flowing
Your tax-deductible gift funds nonpartisan research, trackers, and voter
education across the Piedmont Triad. Checks: PO Box 10142,
Greensboro, NC 27404-0142. EIN 41-4891672.
