Hamilton County Trustee Bill Hullander, photographed Wednesday at the Times Free Press, is a candidate for reelection.Hamilton County has had good luck selling old vehicles and surplus equipment online, and now it’s looking at conducting its annual back-tax sale the same way.
County Trustee Bill Hullander briefed county commissioners at their agenda session Wednesday morning. Next week, commissioners will vote whether to contract with Archon Information Systems LLC to conduct tax-sale auctions this year. If commissioners close the deal and everyone’s happy, the contract could be renewed one year at a time for up to three years.
Each year, the county auctions off properties it acquired after the owners failed to pay taxes for several years. In the past, the auction has been held in early June. Dozens of potential buyers crowd into the county commission room to bid on hundreds of properties, ranging from houses and lots to odd bits and pieces of land here and there.
Hullander said his office and the Clerk and Master’s Office work together on acquiring, administering and reselling the properties. The goal is to get the land and buildings into private owners’ hands and back on the tax rolls.
Answering questions from commissioners Greg Martin and Sabrena Smedley, he said an online auction could be held over a period of days or weeks and the universe of potential bidders could be much greater than it is now. The county would still hold its in-person auction on the final day, he added.