Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Delinquent Lands To Be Sold Sept. 26 At Bowen's

Commissioner of State Lands Charlie Daniels announced that the annual auction for Clark County tax delinquent properties will be held at 2:00 p.m. September 24 at Bowen's Restaurant in Caddo Valley.

Twenty Clark County parcels are slated for the sale. Registration for bidders begins at 1:30 p.m.

"The sale of property is a last resort, Daniels said. "We would much rather collect tax dollars from people paying back taxes than from the sale of property. I am optimistic that the amount of parcels we sell will decrease as we approach the sale date."

As Arkansas' Commissioner of State Lands, Daniels primary responsibility is to return to private ownership lands that have been certified to the state of Arkansas for non-payment of ad valorem real estate taxes. That task is accomplished when people pay their back taxes and through the sale of property at auction.

The parcels scheduled for sale through an oral auction procedure are delinquent for the 1992 tax year and include acreage, town lots and improvements only. The property is sold to the highest bidder. Some mail-in bids may already have been received on various parcels. Those bids will be read at the beginning of the bidding on those parcels.

Successful bidders are required to pay the full purchase price on the day of the sale. That price includes the amount of the highest bid plus all taxes, penalties, interest and costs due, as shown in the State Land office's Catalog of Tax Delinquent Lands.

According to state law, the first $100 of each parcel must be paid in the form of cash, cashier's check or money order. The remainder may be paid by personal check.

Following the date of the sale the owner of record has 30 days to redeem his property. If that occurs, the bidder will be fully refunded. Unless the owner of record redeems that property within the 30-day period, a Limited Warranty Deed from the Commissioner of State Lands will be issued to the buyer.

Original owners, assigns or heirs can contest the validity of the sale in court for up to two years following the date the deed was issued.

"We regret offering anyone's land for sale," Daniels said, but those delinquent tax dollars collected and earmarked for county services have been a boon to local school districts which garner more than three-fourths of all tax dollars. As a result of each sale, those delinquent parcels of land are no longer idle. They are returned to the county tax rolls."

Sales conducted by the Commissioner of State Lands office began in 1987. Since its inception, more than $57.5 million have been generated statewide and returned to the counties which comprise Arkansas.