Property tax auction

County claims 38 properties for unpaid taxes

Following the June 15 redemption deadline, Livingston County has claimed 38 properties for 2010-11 past-due property taxes. The properties will be sold at auction on July 26 at the Livingston County Highway Facility in Hampton Corners.

The auction will commence at 6 p.m. All properties are sold “as is.” The auction and property advertising is being conducted by Thomas Wamp of Pirrung Auctioneers under contract with Livingston County.

If foreclosure is taken as an indicator of difficult economic times, then certainly the Village of Dansville is the most stressed in the county. Ten of the total 38 foreclosures are within the Village of Dansville.

The auction will feature a preponderance of vacant, undeveloped parcels. More than half — 18 of the 38 — are empty lots without any structures.

Among these vacant parcels, the most valuable are 37.2 acres on Thorp Road in Springwater, assessed for $35,400, and 6.28 acres on Route 15 in Avon assessed for $41,100. Most of the vacant properties, however, are under ten acres and valued in the range of $10,000 and less.

The highest valued residential property is a single family two-story home of recent construction on Clinton Street in Dansville assessed at $157,500.

The highest valued of all the auction properties is the former bowling alley at 3156 State Street (Route 5) in the Village of Caledonia on 0.41 acres, assessed for $275,900.

The next highest assessed is the only other commercial property in the auction, a single story structure which was former headquarters for a used car dealership at 1558 West Henrietta Road (Route 15) in Avon, valued at $153,500.

The balance of the properties are small single family homes, trailers and apartment rental houses, some in run-down condition.

This 2012 auction appears to be the first time in several years that the overall value of the properties being auctioned has declined rather than increased.

In 2011, of 42 properties listed for auction, only nine were vacant lots. The 2011 auction included substantially more single family homes valued in the six-figure range.

The decrease in overall assessed valuation and in the number of taxpayer-inhabited dwellings being foreclosed may be a sign of keener awareness of the ramifications of foreclosure on the part of the property owners owing back-tax payments — following intensive press coverage last year on the part of The Livingston County News.

Furthermore, in 2012, county government beefed up its notification process with additional advertisements in pennysavers. Additionally, in cooperation with the county treasurer, a citizens’ group mailed out informal notices, advising remedial measures and warning of the consequences of failure to pay.

More than 50 property owners facing foreclosure were able to come up with full payment within a few days of the redemption deadline.