Having an address in “Jamestown, NC 27282” means never being quite sure where Jamestown’s boundaries begin and end. (I wrote about the “Town of Jamestown vs. Jamestown 27282 Quagmire” back in January, using cut and paste diagrams of the 2023 Zoning Map.)
The subject has come up multiple times in the past few days as my fellow candidates have placed campaign signs in areas they thought were “Jamestown,” only to have them removed because the signs were actually on High Point or Greensboro property.
Also over the past few days, I’ve been trying to come up with a way to use visuals to talk about the property tax inequities, and to show why residents need to ask the County Tax Commissioner and property appraisers to make sure everyone is paying their fair share, especially since these property taxes fund the Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Department (which needs $ for a firehouse expansion).
Let’s start with the Town of Jamestown’s zoning map, which was updated in August by Town Planner José Colón, who did a nice job – we can actually see and read the street names now (the zoning codes are explained in a slideshow of images at the bottom of this post):
If we remove the lakes and background streets, here’s what the Town of Jamestown plus its ETJs (extraterritorial zones) looks like:
If we remove the ETJs, here’s what the voting/taxpaying Town of Jamestown looks like:
I dropped in a few street names and locations to help with identification:
If you look carefully, you’ll see that I’ve also shaded more gray, green and dark brown parcels. These sites are classified in the Guilford County GIS Property Tax System as “civic,” “agricultural” or “industrial” (but are not shown/shaded that way on Jamestown’s zoning map).
I talked about some of this last month: (1) Sites zoned as “Civic” (dark brown on the map, plus the dark green golf course/park) don’t have to pay taxes (schools, churches, government-owned property). (2) Sites zoned as “Agricultural“ (green) are residential with two or more acres and the land is taxed PER-ACRE, ranging from $6,500 to $9,500 per acre. (3) Sites zoned as “Industrial” (gray) in Jamestown (typically the most valuable land parcels according to the 2022 Guilford County Property Tax manual), have DECREASED in tax valuations since 2006 by an average of -12%.
Meanwhile, homeowners in Jamestown’s residential neighborhoods have seen their property valuations INCREASE since 2006 by 30% to 50%… AND, their parcels are valued on a “PER UNIT” basis instead of a “PER ACRE” basis. In Yorkshire, for example, your land is valued at $35K whether it’s a quarter acre or an acre and a half. In Riverwalk, the PER UNIT land value is $33K. Of the properties we surveyed in Forestdale, the PER UNIT land value ranged from $28K to $55K. In Jordan Creek, the PER UNIT value is $65K.
In this next map, I removed the Civic, Industrial and agricultural “PER ACRE” parcels, leaving behind Jamestown’s Main Street (in blue) and residential neighborhoods (in tan) – the parcels assessed at the high PER UNIT prices:
Here’s how they look side by side::
Incidentally, that $2 million half-mile sidewalk would go right in the middle of that big white space in the map on the left.
In case you’re wondering, D.R. Horton’s 467-acre parcel is currently being taxed based on a PER ACRE valuation of $50K, but Windsor Homes’ Harvey Road community is still listed in the County Property Tax system as “AGRICULTURAL” (I could find no property tax records in the County system for this development).
The Panda Express and Whataburger being built on GTCC property across from Publix haven’t been billed for property taxes, either.
Furnitureland South’s 109.72 acres at Harvey Road and I-85 (addressed in Jamestown) are grouped in Market Area ID number 7820A05. They only pay Guilford County property taxes. Nothing to High Point or Jamestown.
If you want to look up your property or any of the parcels in Jamestown and Guilford County, go to the GIS website HERE (this works best on a laptop). Start typing your address in the SEARCH box at the upper left of the screen until you see your address appear and select it. Click on “Tax Appraisal Information” at the top of the sidebar (there’s also a “Tax Bill” option here if you want to look at your tax bill history). Click on the “LAND” tab and you’ll be able to see how your land is valued for property tax purposes.
Guilford County residents have until November 16th to submit PUBLIC COMMENTS re the county’s new Schedule of Property Tax Values Manual. Check out your property valuation and tax history on the GIS website and share your concerns by the deadline.
JAMESTOWN ZONING CODES (click on image to enlarge):
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