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Although there were costs associated with it, the deputy legal counselor for Leavenworth County Thursday said the annual tax sale was productive in helping the county collect some delinquent taxes.
Roger Marrs told the Leavenworth County Commission during an update that a total of 350 parcels were determined to be delinquent on property taxes ahead of the Jan. 11 sale.
Marrs said the process started by sending letters to the owners of the 350 properties that had tax liens on them and were to be listed in the petition for the sale. About 309 of those property owners fully or partially paid their past-due taxes, bringing in $912,672 for the county. After filing the petition, another 14 more property owners came forward to get current — Marrs said that resulted in an additional $90,025 in revenue.
About 41 properties were eventually listed for inclusion in the tax sale. Marrs said 11 of those listed had no bidders, but 30 others did sell.
“The total sales bids for those 30 properties was $92,925,” he said. “Which resulted in an additional $44,624 in taxes being collected.”
Under state statutes, Marrs said the county could negotiate the sale of those remaining properties, should a prospective buyer come forward.
Of the 30 that did sell in the auction, taxes were paid in full on about eight of them. The remaining 22 sold for less than the tax costs associated with them, representing about $117,576 in uncollectable taxes, Marrs said. However, he said about $80,000 of that is the result of special levies from the city of Leavenworth on those properties for costs related to demolition, maintenance and other measures.
Marrs said the county incurred about $16,000 in costs related to the sale, but took in about $1.047 million in what had been delinquent taxes. Given the result, Commission Chairman John Flower said he considered the sale a success.
“Not bad,” he said. “Six to one return on investment.”
Although there were costs associated with it, the deputy legal counselor for Leavenworth County Thursday said the annual tax sale was productive in helping the county collect some delinquent taxes.
Roger Marrs told the Leavenworth County Commission during an update that a total of 350 parcels were determined to be delinquent on property taxes ahead of the Jan. 11 sale.
Marrs said the process started by sending letters to the owners of the 350 properties that had tax liens on them and were to be listed in the petition for the sale. About 309 of those property owners fully or partially paid their past-due taxes, bringing in $912,672 for the county. After filing the petition, another 14 more property owners came forward to get current — Marrs said that resulted in an additional $90,025 in revenue.
About 41 properties were eventually listed for inclusion in the tax sale. Marrs said 11 of those listed had no bidders, but 30 others did sell.
“The total sales bids for those 30 properties was $92,925,” he said. “Which resulted in an additional $44,624 in taxes being collected.”
Under state statutes, Marrs said the county could negotiate the sale of those remaining properties, should a prospective buyer come forward.
Of the 30 that did sell in the auction, taxes were paid in full on about eight of them. The remaining 22 sold for less than the tax costs associated with them, representing about $117,576 in uncollectable taxes, Marrs said. However, he said about $80,000 of that is the result of special levies from the city of Leavenworth on those properties for costs related to demolition, maintenance and other measures.
Marrs said the county incurred about $16,000 in costs related to the sale, but took in about $1.047 million in what had been delinquent taxes. Given the result, Commission Chairman John Flower said he considered the sale a success.
“Not bad,” he said. “Six to one return on investment.”
