County tax sale nets nearly $40,000

Bourbon County Treasurer Rhonda Dunn was extremely pleased with the results of the most recent tax delinquency sale, held Tuesday.

Dunn said 53 of 55 properties up for bid sold, totaling $37,014.50. During the sale, 41 bidders were present. The previous delinquency tax sale held in August netted only about $1,800.

"I think it was a really successful auction, with the interest and the crowd we had," Dunn said. "We had several properties that brought a nice price. And a tenant that got to buy their own home, who now owns it, and that's great. We also had properties that brought better money than we usually see. It was one of the biggest crowds we've had in a while."

Dunn also said prior to the auction, three properties were redeemed, meaning the taxpayer would have paid all back taxes, bringing their taxes current. The taxpayer also has to petition the court in order to redeem their property, according to Dunn.

Of significant interest were the Western Buildings, which are located on the southwest corner of First and Main, last owned by Harvest Ministries. One bidder present, Kevin "Skitch" Allen, placed a successful bid of $3 on the property. Soon afterwards however, Allen rescinded his offer when he learned of the whopping cleanup price and repairs the building would have required an estimated $2 million. The buildings formerly housed Western Insurance company. Dunn said more than $70,000 in taxes were owed on the two buildings when they went up for sale.

"There was a lot of interest in him (Allen) buying it," Dunn said. "He was told by somebody there who knew the two bids they received on the repairs to that building that it has significant asbestos and black mold cleanup that had to be done. It's kind of unusual (to rescind an offer), but that's also kind of an unusual situation. He rescinded it during the auction to Dan Meara, the attorney that represents the county. The new owner accepts the responsibility for that cleanup. And it was probably in everyone's best interest that he have all the information that he could in making his decision."

The cleanup repair was estimated at $1.6 million, plus an additional $400,000 for new roofs.

"He would have been obligated to pay for cleanup," Dunn said. "Government agencies are involved in that. They are tracking the buildings and its cleanup, and so he would have been immediately responsible. The building is still available for purchase. I think it's very fair (to Skitch), because he was not aware of that. And to take his $3 and say 'hey, good luck,' and he's saddled with $2 million, that wouldn't be very responsible. And so I think that was a good decision."

During the sale, a 10-acre parcel of land sold for approximately $8,000. Several other properties were sold in Bronson, Mapleton, and Redfield.

"Their were several pretty valuable properties," Dunn said. "Some of them had houses on the property that had more value than just a lot. And so we had more people and higher dollar properties on this sale than the last one."

Upon a successful bid, the individual has to pay for the purchase price, plus an $8 filing fee for the deed, in order for the transaction to be completed. The purchaser is responsible for the current year's property taxes after becoming the owner of record. Dunn suggested that the Tuesday sale would greatly benefit Bourbon County.

"We didn't recoup all the back taxes, but we're going to have new taxpayers in place, and hopefully people making improvements and doing better at keeping it current," Dunn said. "It's all good for the county."

The county's ability to get taxes off the payroll is one of the primary objectives of holding the sale.

"This means that the property changes hands," Dunn said. "And it's the county's hope that the new owner will stay current on the property taxes and that they would buy it with the intent of making improvements. If it's a vacant lot we hope that they'll make the property better than when they bought it. We do not recoup the back taxes from the new owner, but they are responsible for 2013 taxes. So it is the goal of the county to get a new owner with the ability to keep the taxes current and improve the property."

According to Dunn, the next tax delinquency sale likely will not take place until spring 2014 at the earliest. Dunn described preparing for the sale as a "long multi-month process" to go from a list of delinquent tax payers to an auction.

"We are in the last list of delinquent payers," Dunn said. "We're not finished with it. And we've also started on the next year worth of delinquent taxes, so we can get that process rolling. No date has been set at this time. It will be several months yet before we do that. Right now we're in title search and all of that, to make sure there is a free and clear title to the property. It starts with a very long list. So my suggestion is, if you have delinquent taxes, they better come and get their taxes caught up. That way they won't have to worry about it