I guess 77% is better than nothing

By Maria Ortiz Perez
January 21st, 2010

Mayor Sarno from Springfiled hosted a ballroom-style auction to sell 34 tax-title properties and get them back to the city tax roll. 32 properties went, for a total of $624,400 (the city was owed $811,394 in delinquent taxes on the 34 sites, not including the accumulated interest and fees).

I guess getting back 77% is better than nothing… Call me cheap, but man, those 23% lost hurt a little bit…

What I would be curious to find out is the actions the new property owners will be required to take to make sure that those newly acquired properties don’t just sit there. And I would also like to know what the criteria were to select the auction attendees. Just to make sure the properties will serve the interests of the community at large.

Sales pitch: Pioneer wrote an amazing paper on the lessons learned from Springfield on their asset management approach to tax-title collection. Take a look!

Oh, and before I go, I have a BIG request: Next time Springfield sells property for 20K a piece, would someone let me know? My husband and I have been trying to buy a house for a while…