Select Board moves to identify surplus, tax-deeded properties for public auction

Candia Select Board members on March 24 discussed a plan to identify and sell town-owned parcels acquired by tax deed and directed staff to interview a private auction firm to begin the process.

The board reviewed a memo and attached schedules showing the town’s assessed holdings. The memo said the town’s 2024 report lists roughly $15,000,000 in real and personal property; about $3,000,000 of that is personal property used for municipal purposes, and a little more than $8,000,000 is real estate the town currently uses. The presenter said that, after excluding those in-use assets, roughly $3,768,000 in assessed value appears to be surplus, and that those properties generate about $48,000 a year in property tax revenue that the town is not collecting.

The presenter asked the board to confirm an intention to move forward with public auction sales of a subset of properties listed on “Schedule 2,” and to authorize meetings with a company identified in the discussion as New Hampshire Tax Deed and Property Auctions to map, research title, and run auctions on behalf of the town. Under the proposal, the firm would prepare color-coded tax maps, do title work, send bidder notices and run an auction; bidders would pay a buyer’s premium (discussed in the meeting as a 10 percent fee paid by bidders) and the company would remit proceeds to the town. The presenter said the town would generally sell under RSA 88 because the parcels were acquired by tax deed; RSA 41:14-a would apply to property the town had purchased or received by gift.

Board members discussed particular parcels identified on the schedules, including a roughly 30-acre parcel on High Street that a board member said has no municipal use and could be of value to a private buyer. Members also noted that some parcels on the list might include the former town pit or other sites with use or environmental restrictions and that those should be excluded. The board agreed to treat the Conservation Commission as a courtesy reviewer and to ask the auction firm to produce a tax map that would help identify which lots should be offered.

There was no formal vote on a sale or contract at the March 24 meeting. The board’s stated next steps were to authorize staff (the presenter and Amy, a town staff member referenced in the discussion) to meet with the auction company, review Schedule 2 with conservation officials as a courtesy, and return to the board with a recommendation and mapped list of parcels. One board member said that if the town sold property and placed proceeds into the town’s other reserve funds, the board could later petition to transfer money into the police station capital reserve account as a use for sale proceeds; such a transfer would require separate board and budget procedures.

Board members discussed timing and precedent: the presenter said the last public auction was in 2015 and cited a 1993 town meeting Article 42 as authorizing the town’s sale of surplus property; the presenter also noted that the town previously sold several Depot Road lots and later collected new property taxes from homes built on those sites. The presenter suggested a target timeline of listing and selling selected parcels by June, subject to title review and the board’s final authorization.

Clarifying details discussed at the meeting included the town’s valuation figures as presented ($15,000,000 total; roughly $3,000,000 personal property in municipal use; about $8,000,000 real estate in municipal use; resulting surplus value about $3,768,000) and an approximate annual uncollected tax estimate of $48,000 for the parcels on Schedule 2. The auction firm identified in the discussion would perform title research and accept a bidder-paid premium (described in meeting remarks as 10 percent) to cover those services.