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Dickinson County hears pitch for outsourced tax-foreclosure services; treasurer to coordinate next steps
Summary
A private tax-foreclosure vendor outlined how it charges per-parcel attorney fees, redemption costs and an expedited "skeleton petition" filing process; Dickinson County commissioners and Treasurer Leah discussed timing, partial payments and next steps for a possible contract.
A private firm that handles county tax-foreclosure proceedings told Dickinson County commissioners on Thursday it charges a per-parcel attorney fee — typically attached to each parcel and held by the county treasurer — and seeks to move cases to resolution within about eight to 12 months.
The presenter said scale matters: larger parcel lists can reduce per-parcel fees because of efficiencies. "We charge a per-parcel fee that gets attached to each parcel," the presenter said, adding that those fees are collected by the treasurer and held in a designated account until the court approves final accounting. The presenter gave a common example of roughly $350 per parcel for a list of about 100 parcels.
Why it matters: counties use tax-foreclosure proceedings both to collect delinquent taxes and to clear long-standing, unmarketable parcels from the tax roll. Commissioners said they wanted an approach that encouraged redemptions and minimized county expense.
The firm explained its practice of filing a "skeleton petition" early — a bare-bones lawsuit listing parties on the tax roll — then amending the petition after title work identifies additional interested parties such as mortgage companies or the IRS. The presenter said the $100 court cost is added once a lawsuit is filed to cover publication and case expenses.
Treasurer Leah asked when partial payments remove a parcel from the sale. The presenter replied that full payment is required by 5 p.m. the day before a sale to remove a parcel; partial payments prior to full redemption reduce the outstanding balance but do not halt proceedings once a case is filed. "If someone wants to come in and pay 10 years of taxes, and they want to pay 1 year every month, please let them," the presenter said, arguing partial payments still recover dollars for the county.
Commissioners discussed timing and logistics: the treasurer will produce a parcel list and the firm will work with county staff and a title company on a master spreadsheet before finalizing a contract. Commissioners indicated support for starting the process but did not take a formal vote on a contract at the meeting.
Next steps: county staff and the treasurer will refine the parcel-selection spreadsheet and then submit it to the vendor; the vendor will prepare contract materials for the board to review on a future agenda.
