Warren County tax office reports lower delinquency rate, readies May tax sale

Warren County Tax Collector (staff member) told the Board of Commissioners that the county’s property tax delinquency rate fell to 8.78% for 2024 and that the county will hold an upset tax sale on May 29 at 1:00 p.m., with 15 parcels listed so far.

The tax office reported that the total dollar amount of delinquent taxes for 2024 is about $2.9 million. The collector said the county has reduced its return rate from roughly 11% in 2013 to 8.78% now, a change the office attributes to process improvements including mailings and an online payment system. “I’ve been keeping track for about 12 years now on the returns,” the tax office presenter said during the meeting.

County staff detailed outreach and mailing activity ahead of the sale: about 951 parcels were being mailed earlier in the year, the office has scheduled 2,247 return-of-claim mailers, and roughly 900 properties are expected to be posted next month for the upset tax sale process (last year’s posting count was 776). The tax collector said the most parcels the office has sent to judicial sale in a year was 71, compared with 15 set for the upcoming sale.

The presenter also gave a breakdown of jurisdiction-level return rates for 2024, noting several municipalities with higher-than-average delinquency percentages and flagging one jurisdiction where returned bills and dollar amounts rose substantially.

County commissioners asked clarifying questions about timing and how the county’s coordinated billing with municipalities and school districts — which places multiple opportunities to pay before collection — may affect delinquency totals later in the year. The tax office said it will continue to monitor the effect of simultaneous municipal and school billing on long-term returns.

County staff emphasized that payments made up to the last hour before the sale will remove a parcel from the sale list if all delinquent amounts are paid before the auction.

The tax office said it will update the board on 2025 returns as the year progresses and will provide the commissioners with the detailed spreadsheets used in the presentation.