From the Northwest Indiana Times:
The Lake County commissioners' summer tax sale ended Thursday with the public buying 491 real estate parcels.
Lake County Attorney John Dull said the public auction resulted in the county collecting $246,550. That resulted in an average sale that was well over the opening bid of $300 per parcel.
This follows the the April sale, where the county sold 1,687 parcels and took in more than $3 million. The county sold just over 16 percent of its total inventory of tax-delinquent properties.
Dull said a reorganization of the commissioners' tax sale this year also lowered operational costs and saved hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars.
State law permits Indiana counties to recover unpaid property taxes by taking ownership of the land and buildings on which the tax is due and selling them to the highest bidder. The commissioners and the treasurer's office auction tax-delinquent properties three times a year.
Lake County Treasurer John Petalas will be offering 9,000 new real estate prospects when his office's online tax sale takes place between Sept. 13 and 24.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/crown-point/lake-county-tax-sale-ends-on-profitable-note/article_bd59869a-58c6-5240-9258-5cc33548e47f.html
