Saturday, April 20, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
By JIMMY LAWTON CANTON -- St. Lawrence County sold 185 properties at the recent tax auction bringing in more than $1.9 million in revenue. St. Lawrence County Treasurer Renee Cole said that well …
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By JIMMY LAWTON
CANTON -- St. Lawrence County sold 185 properties at the recent tax auction bringing in more than $1.9 million in revenue.
St. Lawrence County Treasurer Renee Cole said that well exceeded the $1.46 million owed in delinquent taxes on the properties.
This year the county contracted out the work associated with creating and publishing the catalogue of delinquent tax properties that was sold at auction to Auctions International, Aurora. Despite some hiccups in the operation, Cole said she was pleased with the results.
“I think overall the auction company did a fairly good job for their first time running the St. Lawrence County tax sale. We had a few logistical challenges that are easily remedied next year. And from what we can tell from the results of the bids vs. outstanding taxes and the increased number of bidders, it appears they were successful in drumming up interest in the auction whether it be through on-line or print advertising,” she said.
Cole said the changes were made at direction of the county legislature. She said one of the motivations for outsourcing the tax auction to a third party was to increase the number of people reached for the sale, which seems to have worked. Cole said comparing numbers with previous auctions is tricky as the amount owed and quality of available properties can be drastically different from year to year.
“Every year is different, and because there were more parcels in this year than any previous year, I can’t really compare exactly,” Cole said.
“All in all, this year fared better than previous years by a fairly substantial margin, but until we have some history with the external auction company, it is hard to give a solid comparison. We did have more bidders - 47 more in 2018 vs. 2019 (including the on-line bidders). 353 vs 306. And we sold approximately 6% more parcels in the 2018 auction,” Cole said in an emailed response.
This was the first year people could participate in the auction online. Cole said 11 people used the online service and nine of those people purchased properties.
