Gates County orders advertisement of 2024 tax liens; tax office reports backlog reduction and collection gains

The Gates County Board of Commissioners voted to order the advertisement of unpaid 2024 tax liens and to continue pursuing outstanding taxes using statutory remedies. The motion, required by state law, was approved by voice vote; commissioners recorded four "ayes" and no opposition.

In presenting the tax office portion of the budget discussion, tax staff said they had recently reduced a backlog of ownership records and brought the county current on state filing updates that had been as much as five-and-a-half years behind. Staff reactivated business personal-property auditing and verification and said a recent audit recovered roughly $32,000 in previously unreported tax liability (including penalties for multi-year omissions).

Tax staff described ongoing work to improve timeliness (moving toward monthly deed processing and rebalances) and noted that some complex foreclosures could require significant attorney fees; staff recommended postponing county-funded in-rem foreclosure work for the current budget year until they can provide more detailed cost estimates and a list of anticipated fees. Examples cited included a 120-acre parcel with long-standing tax delinquency where mortgage-style foreclosure costs could approach $25,000 in attorney fees.

On the formal action, the county referenced North Carolina General Statute 105-369: "Upon receipt of the tax collector's report of the unpaid 2024 taxes that are liens on real property ... the Gates County Board of Commissioners hereby ordered the tax collector to advertise these liens and continue to pursue all outstanding taxes using the necessary remedies available through the North Carolina general statutes," approved April 2, 2025. The motion carried on a 4-0 voice vote.

Tax staff asked commissioners for permission to provide capital-outlay and budget backup documents by email for commissioners who were not present.