Tax sale draws a crowd

Monday morning at 10 a.m. Vernon County Treasurer Phil Couch stood on the courthouse steps reading the rules for the delinquent tax auction aloud to the crowd gathered below.

Such scenes happen every fourth Monday in August, the date set by law for such auctions.

Every year properties go on the auction block because owners fail to pay the taxes due the city and county.

Mary Kithcart was on hand to see who would bid on property near her. "I just want to see who my new neighbors are going to be. I'm not going to buy anything."

Couch informed the people gathered that the property would be sold by legal description, not by address.

One man asked if Couch would give the address so he could know which property he was bidding on. "How am I supposed to know how to get to any property I buy if I don't have an address to go by?" asked the man.

Couch suggested going to the Vernon County Assessors office to get the address.

"I don't have the addresses here and even if I did have them I couldn't be sure they would be accurate. The law says I have to go by legal descriptions so that's what I do."

Most properties didn't garner much interest, some being sold with just one bid on them.

One property did spark a bidding war before the winning bid of $5,500 was placed.

In all of the eight properties that were up for sale, after last minute payments by delinquent owners, seven were sold and one was declared a no sale after no bids were received.

Ron Chandler, finance director for the city of Nevada, was on hand to put in minimum bids on two properties to make sure the city received either the money owed in back taxes or the property.

After three years a property that doesn't sell at auction for the minimum amount of taxes due can be sold for nearly any bid at all.

Two of the properties in Monday's sale were sold on that basis.