Committee approves two-year Auctions International contract for 2025 tax foreclosure sale; online sale set for Sept. 3-17

The Ways and Means Committee on Aug. 20 approved a resolution ratifying the county administrator's execution of a two-year contract with Auctions International to administer the county's tax foreclosure sale.

Treasurer Terry told the committee the contract extends the county's existing relationship with Auctions International and was signed to allow planning to proceed on short notice. "It's all online. The last 2 we've had have been all online," Terry said. She said the sale's catalog and advertising would go live in the coming days and that the online sale will open Sept. 3 at noon and begin closing Sept. 17, with individual parcel closings starting at 10:00 a.m. on the final day.

Terry described the online closing process: bidding on each parcel extends the closing time by roughly 30 seconds each time a bid is placed, and the platform moves through parcels in sequence. She said there will be hard-copy materials and an online catalog; Auctions International handles registration, advertising and the auctioneer fee, and the county does not pay a separate charge.

Terry said the county cannot re-create prior pre-auction arrangements with the land bank or municipalities because a new rule requires properties to go through the sale twice before the county can offer them to municipalities without market-value requirements. "The land bank, the villages, the towns are encouraged to bid," she said, "but that's about all we can do for them at this point in time because the properties have to go through 2 auctions before we can make any kind of an arrangement with municipalities."

Committee members asked whether the county could reject bids that were too low; Terry said all sales are subject to approval by the committee and the board and can be accepted or rejected at that time. The committee recorded the motion as carried.