300 parcels in arrears for $457,000

One day before the first tax lien sale for the year, the number of parcels to go on the auction block has been cut in half.

Monday at 10 a.m. Lawrence County Treasurer Stephen Burcham will auction the liens of 300 parcels with delinquent taxes totaling $457,000.

Originally the sale was to have 600 parcels with back taxes of $890,000. However, when notice of the sale was made, property owners came into the treasurer’s office to pay their obligations.

“That is not to say they all paid in cash in full, but many have been put on a contract,” Burcham said. “With a contract we are taking it out on a monthly basis (from a checking account.) It is not something where someone comes in and we don’t see them again.”

If taxpayers on contract stop paying the amount owed, those parcels could go back into an upcoming sale.

“We have three more sales scheduled,” Burcham said.

There will be two more tax lien sales on Sept. 26 and Nov. 28 as well as a traditional tax sale set up by the prosecutor’s office.

So far the county has received close to $2 million from the first three tax lien sales between money spent for liens and back taxes that owners have paid to keep their property out of the sale.

A tax lien sale allows potential buyers to bid not on the taxes of the property, but on an interest rate they may receive if the property owner redeems the parcel after the lien is sold. That interest rate begins at 18 percent and goes down by quarter percentage points.

All bidders must put down $500 in cash before the sale and pay at least 10 percent of the back taxes, administrative costs, penalties and interest the day of the sale. Bidders have until the end of the week to pay the balance.

Bidders can register Monday starting at 8 a.m. at the treasurer’s office. The sale will be held in the lobby of the courthouse.