Pike sees new revenues in tax sales

By PAT CAMUSO

MILFORD — The Pike County Board of Commissioners has embarked on a new initiative designed to return unused land parcels back onto the county tax roles.

Pike County Solicitor Jan Lokuta explained that at the present time there are 972 properties in the county Repository. According to Lokuta, there are three basic types of tax sale: Upset Sale, Judicial Sale and Repository.

During the Upset Sale, the land in question is sold for the amount of taxes owed and the buyer assumes all debts charged to the land such as municipal claims, mortgages, liens etc. If not sold at this level, the parcel in question must go to Judicial Sale within one year.

At the Judicial Sale level, all past taxes and liens are cleared. The county, township and school district lose any past taxes due them on this land. The buyer pays only legal costs incurred by the county.

At the next step in the process, unsold lands are placed in the Repository, according to Lokuta, where they are put up for sale at “extremely low amounts.”

After the 2001 Judicial Sale, those properties not sold were placed in the Repository and advertised for sale in November of 2001. Some 1,119 properties were advertised. To date, 147 of these have been sold. Some of these properties have been in the repository since 1991.

The goal of the commissioners’ initiative is to educate the public about tax sales while at the same time expediting the process in order to hasten the return of lands to the tax roles.

According to Lokuta, the 2002 Judicial Sale is scheduled for Wednesday, June 26. Anyone interested in leaning more about county tax sales may contact him at 570/296-3478 during regular business hours.