Utah County approves redacted list of ‘killed’ tax‑sale parcels after debate over IRS liens

Chair opened discussion on consent item 5 and asked staff to clarify why some parcels were marked to be pulled from the upcoming tax sale. County staff explained that the tax‑sale review is a multi‑office process involving the county recorder, auditing, and legal divisions and that certain parcels—commonly labeled 'killed parcels'—are removed because they were erroneously assessed or fall under legal exceptions such as receivership, bankruptcy or airport hangars that are not properly sold through the tax‑sale process.

Unidentified county staff cited Utah law (discussed during the meeting and read aloud) as the basis for the process and explained that some parcels on the list are being withheld from the sale while legal issues are resolved. County legal counsel, Paul Jones of the county attorney’s office, advised the commission that hangars and parcels under receivership should not be part of the public list of parcels subject to a vote and recommended the commission act only on the highlighted items and consider sensitive explanations to be redacted from the public document.

Commissioners raised concerns about some courtesy pulls for properties with federal tax liens. Staff said the IRS had placed deed‑of‑trust interests on certain parcels and was pursuing foreclosure; because the IRS has a 120‑day protest period after a sale, county staff argued that temporarily pulling such parcels could avoid costly post‑sale reversals if the IRS exercises that right and a court later vacates a sale. Commissioners pushed back, noting that the tax‑sale’s purpose is to collect taxes owed to the county and other taxing entities and questioning whether courtesy pulls favor certain lienholders.

After discussion, an unidentified commissioner moved to approve the county’s highlighted '2017 pulled parcels explanations' document as the actionable list but to make the document public with sensitive explanations redacted. The motion was seconded and the commission approved it 3–0. The commission did not adopt any new policy changing how the county evaluates killed parcels; staff will proceed with the redacted list and continue handling disputed categories (receivership, bankruptcy and federal foreclosure actions) consistent with counsel’s guidance.

What’s next: The county will implement the approved pulled‑parcels list (with redactions) and proceed with the planned tax‑sale process for other parcels; staff indicated they will continue communications with the IRS and other lienholders as appropriate.