Tax sales by the numbers
As of 4 p.m. Friday, 227 properties were on the tax sale list. The owners of those properties haven’t paid taxes on those properties for two years, and now they’ve missed their chance to avoid the $175 fee that covers a title search, advertising and postage.
Most of the property owners on the list aren’t destitute. Some on the list are commercial properties, second homes or vacant lots. Some have been offered at previous years’ tax sales, but got no bidders.
The county treasurer traditionally sends a letter to owners of properties on the tax sale list warning them that they are on track for a tax sale, and many avoid the sale by paying off the most delinquent installments and penalties before the sale. Some find the funds to pay off all they owe.
In 2010, 363 parcels were on the tax sale list, and 317 paid enough to avoid the sale prior to the sale; 46 parcels were offered for sale, but only 36 parcels were sold. In the year after the sale, 24 property owners paid the bidders to reclaim ownership of their properties. Only six deeds ultimately changed hands.
In the 2011 tax sale, 422 properties were on the list, but 310 owners paid before the sale; 112 parcels were offered for sale, including those that didn’t sell the previous year, and 78 parcels were sold. The one-year period in which property owners may pay off bidders for their property, including back taxes and penalties, a $750 fee, plus a percentage of the bid amount, has not elapsed, so the number of properties actually sold can’t be tallied yet.
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2012/07/15/news.county-makes-rare-exception-to-offer-tax-payment-plan.sto
