Since launching this website 18 months ago, we’ve reported on a number of questionable money moves made by the town – errors, overspending, and lack of follow-through that amount to $17,198,694. That doesn’t include hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on outside consultants, lawyers, studies, plans and workshops. Here’s the short list, starting with the most recent:
May 2024: D.R. HORTON Jamestown Property Tax billed, 2023-2024, BILLING ERROR found by a Jamestown resident: $108,000
A Jamestown resident found a property tax billing error that netted Jamestown an immediate $108,000 (plus penalties of $13K that, to the best of our knowledge, have not yet been paid). The Guilford County Tax Director agreed, sent a bill to D.R. Horton, and told the resident that Jamestown was paid $108,203.79 by D.R. Horton on June 6, 2024.
June 2024: D.R. HORTON Jamestown Property Tax funds unaccounted for. Funds MISSING: $52,203.79
In June, 2024, the Guilford County Tax Director sent copies of statements for D.R. Horton’s 2023-2024 property tax account to the resident who found and reported the billing error, evidencing payment to Jamestown of $108,203.79. Town manager Matthew Johnson, however, told the mayor, council and The Jamestown News that D.R. Horton only paid $56,000. On July 3rd, the resident wrote both the Guilford County Tax Department and the Jamestown town manager asking for an explanation. The resident is still waiting for a reply.
April 2024: City of High Point used wrong methodology to allocate Eastside WWTP costs to Sedgefield, Jamestown and Archdale for expansion, improvements. Amount Jamestown was OVERCHARGED: at least $681,491
In April 2024, the City of High Point applied the wrong cost allocation method when it billed Sedgefield, Archdale and Jamestown for expansion and improvement costs at the Eastside Wastewater Treatment Plant. Sedgefield has filed a lawsuit. Jamestown is a party to the same wastewater service contracts as Sedgefield. High Point’s April invoices used a method that allocated cost shares based on readings from “flow rate” meters on sewer pipes, instead of the FIXED “pro rata” share established in a contract signed by the mayors of the towns in 1992 and ratified/reaffirmed by contract in 2000.
The Mayor Montgomery and the town council need to honor the former mayor’s contractual commitment and make Jamestown a party to this lawsuit. Plugging Jamestown’s numbers into the same lawsuit, the amount saved by Jamestown would be a MINIMUM of $681,491.
November 2023: NC GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2023 WATER & WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS, amount LOST: $5 million
Last November, the NC General Assembly handed out $2.3 billion in grants to 200 towns across North Carolina for WATER and WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE (NC Session Law 2023-134, 12.2). Greensboro got $7 million. Randolph County, where our drinking water reservoir (PTRWA/Randleman Lake) is located, got $85 million. The City of Randleman, in Randolph County, got $5.15 million.
Jamestown got NOTHING – because Jamestown didn’t apply. Randleman’s population is 4,600. Jamestown has been providing free sewer connections to 2,500 Greensboro homes since at least 1997 (bringing Jamestown’s total sewer connections to about 5,100), so Jamestown probably would have qualified for at least as much as Randleman – $5.15 million.
February, 2023: The $2.3 million one-mile sidewalk.
The town council voted to spend $2.3 million of our $2.8 million American Rescue Plan funds on one mile of sidewalk. The American Rescue Plan funds (ARPA funds) are FEDERAL funds given to states and towns for water quality, sewer and infrastructure projects.
One local resident worked up a cost estimate for sidewalk installation that came out to $349,468 (on the high end), noting in his post: “This leaves $1,950,532 for profit and items left out.” Here’s the thing – this can still be UNDONE: ARPA dollars are “federal funds earmarked for TWO THINGS: (1) WATER AND SEWER infrastructure projects, and (2) projects designed to help remedy the pandemic’s effect on community health and local economies.”
The sidewalk is not an “eligible” project according to the ARPA program guidelines. The town needs to reobligate the funds to higher priority water quality and stormwater fixes.
June 2022: Jamestown mayor and town council agree to pay for all of D.R. Horton’s water infrastructure needs, obligating Jamestown to a minimum of $1,055,000. This one started out as “raising 11 manholes and installing 1700 feet of sewer pipeline.” Should go on D.R. Horton’s tab.
2022: Jamestown’s council commits us to paying for wastewater treatment plant “upgrades” (i.e., expansion) that we don’t need: $8,000,000.
Jamestown agreed to pay $8,000,000 to the City of High Point for an expansion at the Eastside Water Treatment Plant that Jamestown DOES NOT NEED. Jamestown’s population and water use has been declining for years. Jamestown is paying for 2,500 Greensboro connections. A contract signed 24 years ago by the mayors of High Point, Jamestown, Archdale and Sedgefield released the smaller towns from future financial responsibility for expansions at Eastside.
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