County sees $310K in profit at property tax auction, but may not be able to keep it

Photo by Tom Rivers: This house on East Avenue in Albion sold during the Aug. 22 Orleans County tax foreclosure auction. It sold for $29,500, about $14,000 more than what was owed in back taxes.

ALBION – The annual tax foreclosure auction in Orleans County typically concludes with a big net loss for the county coffers, with most of the properties not selling above what is owed in back taxes.

But at the auction on Aug. 22, 17 of 27 properties sold above the delinquency amount in taxes for $310,924 in profit.

The other sales, however, were below what was owed in back taxes in fines. (One of those sites on South Main Street in Holley has been in limbo for about 20 years after the Diaz Chemical leak in January 2002. The site sold for $40,000 at the tax auction, well below the $321,572 in unpaid taxes.)

The 10 properties that sold below what was owed in taxes had a cumulative loss of $416,723. That looks like a net loss for the county of $105,796 when the profitable sales are included.

The county has always been able to use the profits from the sales that were more than the unpaid taxes to help may up for the losses with the other sales.

But a recent Supreme Court ruling says governments can’t take in more than what is owed. County Treasurer Kim DeFrank told county legislators on Aug. 22 she is waiting for guidance on what to do with the money from sales that were above the amount of back taxes owed. Those funds may be put into a trust until there is a determination on how those funds should be directed.

For the county that would be a loss of $416,723 from what would have been profitable sales from the auction.

Altogether, the 27 sites sold for $644,000, but the total delinquency for the properties was at $749,796. The county also assumes the unpaid taxes for the villages, towns and school districts.