From the Elkhart Truth:
As of Wednesday, there were 1,380 parcels listed for Elkhart County’s upcoming property tax sale, but treasurer Larry Ernest said some landowners are coming forward to pay their taxes and remove their properties from the auction block.
The lengthy list of properties includes a mix of residential, commercial and industrial parcels with unpaid taxes totaling $8.3 million. Almost 900 of those parcels are in the city of Elkhart, 100 are in Goshen and the rest are scattered throughout the county, Ernest said. Ernest noted that property owners have until noon on Oct. 1 to pay back taxes owed to the county.
The starting bid for each property equals the amount of taxes owed on the land, Ernest said. The highest bidder on the date of the tax sale — Oct. 2 — will receive a tax sale certificate. Landowners then have one year after the sale to redeem the property. If the taxes remain unpaid, the property’s bidder can start the process of securing a title to the land.
Unsold properties will either be placed on next year’s tax sale list, or tax sale certificates for the land will be given to the Elkhart County Board of Commissioners. The commissioners have the option of having a certificate sale or transferring the properties over to the cities where they are located.
Some properties appear on the tax sale list year after year. One of those, Ernest said, is the Orbitron Products Inc. building on West Beardsley Avenue in Elkhart. The company owes the county more than $2.2 million in back taxes.
Last year, the county started with 1,900 parcels on its tax sale list. About half of the landowners got up to date on their taxes before the sale, and 300 properties were sold, Ernest said.
The sale will be held at the Elkhart County Administration Building, 117 N. Second St. in room 104 in Goshen.
http://www.etruth.com/article/20120823/NEWS01/708239913/0/FRONTPAGE
