APRIL 7 2026: On February 17th I filed a property tax valuation appeal with the Guilford County Tax Department, for the following reasons:
- The square footage for the “livable space” of my house as listed in the Guilford County GIS property records was too high. It was an estimate. I literally got a tape measure and measured my floors.
- Each lot in my neighborhood is assessed at a flat $95,000 regardless of whether it is .53 acres (like mine) or 1.12 acres (like my neighbor’s).
- A comparable house built the same year as mine, with the same materials, by the same builder, but bigger, was valued at $10/sq. foot less than my house.
Yesterday, April 6th, I received a Notice of Determination from the county. My value was lowered, though not by much: 4.25%. But based on the revised (accurate) square footage, my value per square foot is the highest in my neighborhood.
These valuations make no sense. Guest contributor Robert Frederick has more to say on it here, along with some tips for filing an appeal.
One thing I’ve found is the insurance companies are already raising rates based on the county’s sky-high valuations. My daughter’s annual homeowner’s premium was raised by more than $500. She’s never filed a claim and lives in a modest two-bedroom home. That new premium, together with her current tax rate, meant she would be paying MORE for insurance and taxes each month than she pays for the mortgage.
She switched insurance companies and got a much better rate with Liberty.
SEPTEMBER 5 2025: An article in the High Point Enterprise today sheds some light on why Guilford County (and Jamestown) residents are having property tax revaluations done in 2026 a year earlier than usual.
North Carolina’s General Assembly requires that NC counties perform property tax revaluations every EIGHT years, but Guilford County conducts them every FIVE years. The last three happened in 2022, 2017 and 2012.
The early 2026 county-wide revaluation is the result of a review that found 10,580 Guilford County properties were valued at 80.14% of their actual sales prices in 2022. By state law, according to the article, when values are 15% higher or lower than actual sales prices, a revaluation is triggered a year early.
NOTICES of the new property revaluation prices will be mailed to Guilford County taxpayers in FEBRUARY 2026. Taxpayers will have until MAY 15, 2026 to APPEAL the revaluation amounts.
Here’s why that APPEAL process should matter to taxpayers, especially here in Jamestown:
While writing about the Pinecroft Sedgefield fire department (and fire tax), I saw a few “inconsistencies,” so I plugged some Jamestown properties into a spreadsheet and found that from 2006 to 2025, (1) RESIDENTIAL property valuations INCREASED by 29.5% in Yorkshire, by 39.5% in Forestdale East, by 47% in Forestdale North, and by 41.3% in Cedarwood; and (2) INDUSTRIAL (and large-parcel residential) properties DECREASED by -12%:
[source: Guilford County GIS Data Viewer]
Part of the problem is that the lots in Jamestown’s “named” neighborhoods are valued using a flat lot or “per unit” 5-figure price, while larger residential lots (two or more acres) have the benefit of being valued using a much lower “per acre” 4-figure price.
In Yorkshire, for example, all land lots are valued at a “per unit” price of $35,000, regardless of size: The tax value of my .53 acre Yorkshire lot is valued by Guilford County at $35,000, but so is my neighbor’s 1.12-acre lot.
For the Town of Jamestown’s larger residential landowners (2 or more acres), the tax valuations range from only $6,500 to $9,500 per acre. A 5.3-acre lot with the $6,500 per-acre rate is valued by County tax assessors at $34,450, which is less than the $35,000 valuation of my half-acre lot.
According to the procedures outlined in Guilford County’s “Schedule of Values” Manual* the valuation methods used by the county assessors here in Jamestown are wrong:
(1) The larger 2+ acre residential lots in Jamestown are being valued as “Rural acreage land,” which the Manual defines as “land that is outside most city limits, over 2 acres in size, was historically used in farming/agricultural processes, and is valued by the acre.” BUT, these 2+ acre lots are within town limits and are zoned “single family residential” (not farming or agriculture).
(2) The “per unit” valuations used in Yorkshire and Forestdale are for “Rural lots,” which the Manual defines as “parcels of property that are outside most city limits and are not in a named subdivision, and less than 2 acres in size. Rural lots are priced on a per lot basis.” BUT, the named subdivisions of Yorkshire and Forestdale are within town limits, so they fall under the “Neighborhood and Subdivision lots” category, defined as “a neighborhood or a named subdivision where the surrounding properties are similar in value and in use. The main factors that influence the base value of neighborhood and subdivision land are topography, shape, accessibility and size.”
(3) The Manual also says that “Industrial land” land has “a higher value than all other types of properties.” That’s not the case with my Jamestown sample: The Kres LLC/Teknor Apex property (15.43 acres) has a land valuation of $17,500 per acre, and Univar (6.08 acres) has a land valuation of $31,496 per acre.
The Manual includes a list of size adjustments and other factor adjustments (topography, flood plain, railroad), but they’re not being applied equally or consistently in Jamestown, so I’m not attempting to discuss them here.
This table shows the county and municipal tax rates from 2017 through 2024 for Guilford County.
See how your property valuation compares to surrounding properties, and to find historical valuations at the Guilford County GIS properties site, HERE. (It is best to do this on a laptop because some of the tax information links don’t appear on mobile devices.) Type an address or name in the search bar, hit enter, then tap on “TAX BILLS.” There is also a link to tax appraisal information where you can click on the LAND tab to see land valuation information.
*The “Schedule of Values” Manual is described in the High Point Enterprise article as “the ‘rulebook’ that assessors follow to ensure that properties are valued equitably to reflect current market values”
AUGUST 2024: In 2022, Guilford County assessors performed a county-wide revaluation of property for property tax assessments. North Carolina’s General Assembly requires these revaluations every EIGHT years, but Guilford County conducts them every FIVE years. The revaluation prior to 2022 happened in 2017, and before that in 2012.
For Jamestown residents, assessment values and tax bills have consistently increased.
For the industrial properties along Main Street, it’s a different story. Over the past 20 years* their property valuations have stalled or decreased. *(20 years is as far back as the Guilford County GIS online property tax records go).
Here’s what the the factories pay compared to what residents pay:
+In 2022, the county property tax valuation of UNIVAR’s 6.08 acre property ($1,738,100) was 6.6% LESS than its 2004 valuation ($1,862,200). The Univar Office Building sits on an adjacent parcel of 1.83 acres. From 2000 to 2017, it was valued at $64,100. In 2017, it went up to $81,100. The 2022 revaluation took it up to $664,300.
+Staples LLC’s 2022 valuation of $1,292,275 is only 1.9% higher than its 2004 valuation ($1,268,200). This is the vacant one-story brick building at Dillon and Main Street; the Staples LLC building and its “toxic lagoon” are on the State’s list of “Inactive Hazardous Sites.“
+The Hood Container property valuation (9.87 acres) went from 2004 to 2022 with NO increases in assessed value. The 2022 assessment revalued it at $2,452,400, up 25.9% over the 2004 value of $1,963,000.
+Teknor Apex‘s landlord is KRES LLC, a local company. The 2022 valuation for this property (which is discharging PFAS into our water system) was $2,895,600, only 3.7% higher than its 2004 value ($2,792,700).
MORE DETAILS ON THE FACILITIES
UNIVAR Chemicals (formerly CHEMCENTRAL), 212-612 Oakdale Road (corner of Main Street and Oakdale Road. Headquarters is Downers Grove, Illinois, suburb of Chicago. In December 2024, Univar was purchased by a United Arab Emirates sovereign fund subsidiary; a lengthy remediation document executed at the time of the sale addresses existing contamination on the UNIVAR site.
Univar’s Main Building sits on 6.08 acres, appraised land value is $191,500, which equals $31,496/acre. The building is 47,492 square feet. In 2001, property assessment value was $1,149,200. In 2004, it increased to $1,862,200, and stayed there until 2012, when it dropped to $1,786,000. In 2017, it increased to $1,819,000. The 2022 reassessment dropped it to $1,738,100. The 2022 value for the 6.08 acre property was 6.6% LESS than its 2004 assessment, and 4.4% LESS than 2017 assessment. Property Taxes Paid in 2023: $12,696.82 to Guilford, $10,167.89 to Jamestown.
The Univar Office Building sits on an adjacent parcel of 1.83 acres, and the appraised land value for that one is $128,100, which equates to $70,000/acre. The building is 6,196 square feet. In 2000, This parcel was assessed at $45,800. In 2004, it increased to $64,100. There was no change until 2017, when it increased to $81,100. The 2022 reassessment took it up to $664,300. The tax appraisal record states that the value of BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS was only $11,300. Property Taxes Paid in 2023: $4,852 to Guilford, $3,886 to Jamestown.
At 3516 Dillon Road sits Staples LLC/Powerline Metal Fasteners, a contaminated site with a toxic lagoon, owned since 1987 by Jaygee Realty/Efbe Realty Company, Weston, Florida. The site is 4.66 acres and total appraised land value is $182,700, which equates to $39,206/acre. In 2000, the assessed value was $735,600. In 2004, it increased to $1,268,200. In 2012 it decreased to $1,208,600. In 2017 it increased by $400 to $1,209,000. In 2022 it increased to $1,292,275. Staples LLC’s 2022 tax assessment value was just 6.8% more than 2017, and only 1.9% more than the value assessed in 2004. 2023 Property Taxes paid: Guilford $9,440.07, Jamestown $7559.81
Highland Containers (entrance is at 3520 Dillon Road) is now owned by HOOD Industries, headquartered at 623 Main Street, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The site is 9.87 acres and appraised land value is $386,900, which equates to $39,199/acre. In 2000, the assessed property value was $1,733,500. In 2004, the value increased to $1,962,300. In 2013, the value increased by $2,100 to $1,964,400. The next increase did not occur until 2022, when the reassessment took it up to $2,452,400. Hood Container’s 2022 assessed tax value was 25.9% over its 2004 value, 20 years ago. 2023 Property Taxes paid: Guilford $17,914.78 Jamestown $14,346.54
Teknor Apex 3518 Dillon Road. Teknor Apex is headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The landowner is Kres LLC. The site is 15.43 acres and appraised land value is $270,100, which equates to $17,504 per acre. In 2004, the property value assessment was $2,792,700. In 2012 it dropped to $2,627,100. In 2017 it dropped by $200 to $2,626,900. The 2022 reassessment increased it to $2,895,600. Kres LLC’s 2022 assessed tax value is only 3.7% higher than its 2004 value, and is 10.2% higher than its 2017 value. 2023 Property Taxes paid: Guilford $21,152.36, Jamestown $16,939.26
WINDSOR HOMES’ development, 4718 Harvey road
In the Guilford County Tax records, the 32.26 acre residential development at 4718 Harvey Road is classified as “AGRI/HORT.”
The property was sold by the previous owners to Windsor Homes on March 7, 2023, for $625,000 ($19,373/acre), but the appraised LAND value in the Guilford County Tax Records, is only $205,500 ($6,370/acre).
For 2023, the tax bill is based on the old AGRI/HORT assessment value ($205,500). Also, Windsor Homes paid amounts that were wrongly pro-rated – for 6 months ($750.59 to Guilford County) and 5 months ($498.34 to Jamestown). The property transfer took place March 7, 2023, so the pro-rated amount should be calculated based on TEN months.
For 2024, the old valuation is being used ($205,500 instead of $625,000). Plus, the assessed value is further reduced by an “EXEMPT & EXCLUSION” amount of $121,245. This results in a 2024 tax value $84,255 ($2,611/acre). As such, Windsor Homes’ current Property Tax Bill for those 32.26 acres on Harvey Road is only $615.48 (Guilford) and $526.59 (Jamestown).