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All but three of the properties available at Guthrie County's annual delinquent tax sale were gobbled up by 69 investors at the courthouse Monday morning.
Figures from the treasurer's office showed 260 of the 263 parcels (98.8 percent) available at sale time were sold during the sale which lasted about 75 minutes.
The three properties that did not sell were mobile homes.
Delinquent taxes on the 260 properties totaled $93,852.90, but the sale actually totaled more than that, $99,052.90. The difference was due to a $20 certificate fee for each parcel which is charged by the county. That resulted in $5,200.
In addition, the county generated another $1,725 from charging each bidder $25 to register for the sale.
Because owners of a number of properties paid their back taxes after the delinquent tax list was published, the number of delinquent parcels was reduced from 378 to 263 at the time of the sale. Also, the amount of the delinquencies dropped to $93,853 from the published figure which was $150,827.
The three parcels, one of them public bidder, will be offered when the sale reconvenes Monday, June 25 at the treasurer's office.
By law, investors bidding on the delinquent parcels earn two percent a month interest on the property until owners pay the county for tax arrears. In 2005, bidding was so intense that some of the 47 bidders were lowering the amount of interest they sought to one percent per month. None of that lowering has taken place the past two years.
The tax sale remains a popular event and the sale process was made easier this year through the purchase of new computer software purchased by the treasurer's office.
Property descriptions were projected on a wall in the courthouse meeting room as descriptions were read by treasurer Marcia Kindred. The computer image also showed the random selection of bidder numbers which previously was done by drawing numbered ping pong balls. Bidders reportedly liked watching the computer randomly select their numbers during the sale process which officials said went smoothly.
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©Guthrie Center Times 2010
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