County Reports Successful Tax Sale

County Reports Successful Tax SaleBy CHRIS ALLEN BAKER, Times News Editor
FOREST—Scott County received an injection of new funds Monday as buyers participated in the annual land tax sale held as required by law.The main courtroom at the Scott County Courthouse was filled with people seeking to pay taxes on land parcels with the possibility of acquiring the land if the owners fail to redeem their property.
Myra Murrell Davis, tax assessor-collector, said the turnout was a little above normal this year and the county won its share of funds in the process."I think it went really well. We officially had 98 buyers but looking in the courtroom, it seemed like we had more than 100 buyers," Davis said.The county sold the taxes on every parcel except for the 16th Section parcels that go to the state, Davis said. The county collected $372,839.10 on 1,312 parcels.Davis said that as of July 23, there was $553,933.72 left outstanding on 1,958 parcels of property in the county.The county also came out ahead on the overbid process in collecting funds from buyers who pay more than the taxes owed on a parcel.If a parcel owner redeems their taxes, a buyer receives a refund for the taxes paid, but the county gets to keep the overbid funds, Davis said.The overbid funds came to $8,587.96 for the county's coffers.During the tax sale, buyers were seen scanning the pages of delinquent tax listings published twice in The Scott County Times earlier this month. The 18-page section listed the names of property owners who had not paid taxes when the section went to press at the end of July.Davis said this is a regular process that happens every year.However, taxpayers still tend to wait until just before the publication before submitting payment."We are required by law to publish delinquent tax listings," Davis said. "The taxes are due Feb. 1 each year so the best way to keep from being listed is to pay by that date."