From the Kokomo Tribune:
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Miami County commissioners are considering selling land parcels for just $1 in an aggressive effort to get properties with delinquent taxes into the hands of tax-paying citizens and back onto the county’s payroll.
The proposal comes after a recent tax sale in which only 48 properties with unpaid taxes were purchased out of 192 up for sale. The auction brought in nearly $77,000.
Now, commissioners want the remaining 144 properties — which have a total $446,500 in unpaid property taxes — to be sold at a commissioner’s sale slated for January, and they said they’re willing to take extreme measures.
“We’re going to get drastic,” Commissioner Craig Boyer said Monday. “There’s too many properties that have come up time and time and time again. We’re going to get these properties back into taxation, and this is the only way this is going to work — to be aggressive and get it done.”
Boyer said he believes the $1 price will entice people to purchase the properties, some of which contain dilapidated structures that need to be fixed or torn down.
At last year’s sale, commissioners set the starting purchase price at 10 percent of the total unpaid property taxes on each parcel.
Commissioners also said they would likely attach a small fee to each property to cover the county’s auction and advertising expenses.
“We’re not worried about getting the back taxes on these properties,” said Commissioner Josh Francis. “As long as our expenses are covered, we’re good. We just want these back on the payroll.”
Before the sale takes place, Boyer said commissioners would pass an ordinance banning anyone with delinquent taxes in the county from participating in the commissioner’s sale.
Francis also suggested notifying property owners adjacent to up-for-sale parcels about the commissioner’s sale.
“We want to make sure they know about it, because they’re the ones most likely to buy these properties that are continually coming up for sale,” he said.
Debbie Cunningham, land deputy in the auditor’s office, said the county could also hold an online auction for any properties not purchased during the commissioner’s sale.
http://kokomotribune.com/local/x325734664/Miami-County-land-may-go-for-1
