Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tax Sale topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ways and Means hears tax-sale update; federal law changes shift surplus rules and require policy revisions
Summary
Allegany County Deputy Budget Officer updated the Ways and Means Committee on a double tax sale covering 2022–23 delinquencies, said roughly 300 parcels are eligible, and outlined required policy changes after a recent law change that redirects surplus sale proceeds to courts and limits county chargebacks to $250 per parcel.
The Allegany County Ways and Means Committee received an update March 19 from the deputy budget officer on the county's planned tax sale and related policy changes following a recent statutory change.
"We currently have about 300 parcels. They have until July fifteenth of this year to pay," the deputy budget officer said, describing the county's plan for a public online auction tentatively scheduled to open Sept. 3 and close Sept. 17. The officer said this is a "double sale" covering properties delinquent in both 2022 and 2023 because the county did not hold a sale during the COVID-19 period.
The deputy budget officer told the committee that a change in the law now requires surplus proceeds (money received above the tax amount owed) to be turned over to the court system and become part of a court trust account; prior owners must apply to the court to recover any surplus. "The law requires us to turn that money over to the court system, and then it becomes part of a court and trust account," the deputy budget officer said.
The county also faces a statutory cap on the county's recoverable administrative costs. "I believe that cap is $250 per parcel," the deputy budget officer said, and added that the county may realize losses on some parcels because the cap limits how much it can recoup for expenses.
Committee members asked how the new process affects county programs that acquire properties, including the land bank and the county's owner reacquisition program. The deputy budget officer said the county must still demonstrate that it offered property for market value and that transfers to a land bank would not avoid the court-related surplus process. "It does not [circumvent the court process], because we have to prove that we have offered them for market value," the deputy budget officer said.
The deputy budget officer said staff are reviewing an agreement with Auctions International and working with county counsel, Phillips Lytle, to revise the owner reacquisition, municipality purchase, and land bank purchase policies to comply with the new law. Those revised policies will be returned to the committee before the end of the July redemption period. The deputy officer said the county hopes to return to a one-year tax sale schedule in 2026, which would reduce the number of parcels offered.
Committee member Mr. Barnes asked whether owners would be notified that surplus funds are available through the courts. The deputy budget officer said many notification requirements have changed and staff are still determining how detailed the county's notices must be; staff extended the redemption window to July 15 and reissued notices in multiple languages in response to the statutory changes.
The committee did not take formal action on the tax-sale policies at the meeting; staff said they will bring draft policy revisions and the auction agreement back to the committee for formal consideration before the redemption window closes.
