Second-half year real estate taxes are running a bit higher than the same time period last year, Lawrence County Treasurer Stephen Dale Burcham said Thursday.

Burcham told the Lawrence County Commission second-half year taxes amounted to $1.7 million as of Thursday. Burcham said one of the things that helped speed collections along was the decision to mail out tax bills early in an effort to save money on postage by beating the first class stamp price hike that went into effect in mid-May.

“I estimate we saved about five percent on postage,” Burcham said.

Last year’s second half collections amounted to $8 million.

Burcham said he anticipate the first round of the county’s delinquent property tax sale will be in late June.

On the auction block will be approximately 245 parcels of real estate on which delinquent taxes are owed. If all of those parcels sell at auction, the end result will be $900,000, most of which will go to the county’s seven public districts. Burcham said the owners of 45 parcels of property have come into his office and paid the necessary taxes and other fees. Those 45 parcels amounted to $161,000.

The deadline for keeping a parcel of real estate from going to tax sale was Thursday.