If you owe back taxes, now might be a good time to pay up.
The county will hold a delinquent tax sale Tuesday, May 6.
New Tax Commissioner Nicole Scurry says she plans to continue efforts to collect back taxes started over 20 years ago, by her predecessors, former tax commisisoners Jesse Lewis and Terresa Davis.
“I assisted Mrs. Terresa with doing the tax sales throughout her terms in office,” says Scurry. “My commitment to you, the taxpayer, is to collect as much of the taxes as we can to help share the burden equally.”
A total of 103 parcels of local property representing some $187,637.55 in delinquent taxes will be sold on the courthouse steps next month. The past-due amounts range from a low of $302.71 to a high of $19,561.21 The past-due taxes date back to 2021.
Public notices describing each property being planned for auction are included in today’s edition and will continue running throughout April.
The tax sales are the culmination of a threemonth process.
Once the tax commissioner’s office sends a delinquent/ fi fa notice and the accompanying 30-day grace period expires, a fi fa is filed with the Clerk of Court. The tax commissioner then adds the fi fa cost to the tax bill.
In 2004, Pierce County contracted with Government Tax Solutions (GTS) of Carrollton to help collect the county’s back taxes. GTS has already sent warning letters, certified letters (to taxpayers and lienholders) and 10 day notices and has followed up with legal research. The parcels are now being advertised for sale.
GTS’s services come at no cost to county taxpayers at large. The company assesses its fee on the bill of the delinquent accounts. GTS collects a $65 service fee on the courtesy notice and receives $160 on the second notice to cover the title research. Public notice costs are added to the bill prior to advertising.
