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Last updated on Friday, September 21, 2012
(BEDFORD) - Wednesday’s tax sale brought in $57,727 in back taxes.
Many were able to save their property from the sale. 140 parcels were on the original list, but Wednesday morning there were only 71, according to Lawrence County Auditor Billie Tumey.
Their owners owed all of 2011 and this spring's taxes. Of the 71 parcels, only 45 sold, but some of those brought big money.
The top seller was a 108-acre parcel on Fort Ritner Road in Guthrie Township. Tumey says $3,087 in back taxes was owed on the land. It sold for $101,000 to Vinod Gupta.
Another parcel, in Marion Township, included a house and was valued at $193,000. Tumey says $4,610 was owed in back taxes, and the parcel sold for $80,000.
A tax sale buyer does not get a deed. He gets a certificate. The original property owner still has a year to get his land back. But to do that he has to pay the back taxes, fees, the tax sale buyer's costs and interest.
When all the bidding was done Wednesday, the county had brought in $650,397 on the 45 parcels that sold. The tax money owed on those 45 properties totaled $57,727.
The extra amount - $592,670 - is called the "surplus," Tumey says.
If the original owner redeems the property within the one-year time limit, the money goes back to the tax sale buyer. If the property is not redeemed, the tax sale buyer gets the land, and the original owner has three years to claim the surplus.
If it is not claimed after three years, Tumey says the money reverts back to the county.
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