Treasurer reports town sold 13 properties at first auction, collected about $39,000

Town Treasurer and Collector Monique Blair updated the Board of Selectmen on July 15 about recent tax-auction activity and the town’s inventory of tax-title properties.

Blair said the town’s first auction on May 15, conducted with the auctioneer Solivan, offered 17 properties and sold 13. The sales generated a little more than $39,000, which Blair said paid off several tax-title accounts and covered auctioneers’ and attorneys’ fees, registry filings and deed-handling costs. She said 13 properties taken off the books will return to the tax rolls in fiscal 2026.

Blair said the town currently has 23 parcels categorized as "land of low value;" she is exploring a late-fall auction for those parcels but will wait for state and assessor clearance. She also said she will begin tax-title takings on eight other properties that do not meet the low-value threshold; those cases may move toward Land Court if owners do not enter repayment agreements.

Board members asked whether purchasers completed paperwork and whether the auction cost taxpayers. Blair said buyers completed required paperwork and that sale proceeds covered auction costs. She explained the state process for low-value parcels: the town submits records to the state for review of deeds, taxes and buildability; if the state approves, the town’s assessor completes local filings and the town may then auction the lots.

Blair provided a working threshold for "land of low value" in Sheffield: properties assessed under $266,000 currently fall into that category, a number that has increased over time.